Recently, the first batch of 300 beneficiaries of the Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP), an initiative of Governor ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, graduated at the CSS Integrated Farms, Gora, Nasarawa State, amid pomp.
YEAP’s objective is to empower youths through agriculture and agriculture value chain, as the governor once stated that addressing youth unemployment and channeling them towards productive ventures is a top priority of his government.
The event was held at the International Skills Acquisition Centre (ISAC) inside the farms, where the trainees had learnt the nitty-gritty of agribusiness within two weeks and had been exposed to ground-breaking innovations in cassava value chain, poultry farming, chicken processing, livestock farming, fish farming and management, irrigation system, hydroponics farming, ICT application in agribusiness and farm management, among others.
Like the proverbial saying about teaching people to fish rather than giving them fish, the state government’s partnership with CSS Farms culminated in the making of the first set of agripreneurs.
Speaking at the event, Makinde expressed his excitement with the outcome of the training programme and the potential of the initiative to make multiple young millionaires in the state and the eventual impact they would have on the Internally Generated Revenue of the state.
“You are important to us…we will support you to succeed”.
The governor had, while addressing the enthusiastic graduating youths, maintained that the initiative came to be as a result of his administration’s commitment to empower youths in the real sense of the word, so that they can empower others and thereby lift Oyo from poverty to prosperity.
The governor noted that he recognises the importance of empowering the youths, as someone who began to make money and pay salaries since he was 29.
Makinde, who appreciated the youths for first having faith in him by supporting him to govern the state, said that it was clear that the idea of politicians using youths as political thugs and/or procuring commercial motorcycles for them in the name of empowerment could no longer be allowed to hold sway.
As he clearly adumbrated while addressing the youths, who appeared to have been fired up by the lessons they received and the pep talk from the Chairman of the CSS Farms, Prof. Johnkennedy Opara, who talked about vision and what it takes to make the difference, Makinde said it was time to partner youths and work with them to achieve their dreams.
In order to do this, he said his government would not leave anything to chance, as according to him, “gone are the days when all that politicians want to do with our youths is use them as political thugs during electioneering and once the election is over, they forget them”.
Big picture
For those who know Makinde and his penchant for always looking at the big picture and seeking value for money, it would be clear that what the state is striking at in empowering the youths for exploits in agribusiness is the transformation of its economy into a multi-billion Naira economy through agriculture and agriculture value chain.
This sits well with the last pillar of the administration’s four-service point agenda, which has to do with the expansion of Oyo’s economy through agriculture and agriculture value chain.
The determination to use agribusiness to launch the state’s economy to greater heights, again, brought to bear the governor’s fecundity in innovative leadership in Gora, when he announced that instead of 3,300 youths scheduled to be trained in the scheme, 10,000 youths will now benefit from the agribusiness empowerment.
“I saw the energy you displayed and I saw the commitment from the CSS team. This programme was going to run for six months and we would have trained 600 people every month for almost six months back to back. But with the simple arithmetic I did, we will increase the number to 10, 000,” the governor said.
Makinde explained the rationale behind increasing the number of beneficiaries thus: “The training will go on till the end of next year. If we finish training the 10, 000 and we are able to successfully empower you, if each of you are turning in over N10million annually in terms of business, that is a N100billion economy for Oyo State and I know it is possible.
“If you are raising a thousand chickens, it’s about N230, 000, which is about the cost of one Okada.
“How much can one Okada give to one individual in one year? But in three to four months, you can turn that N230, 000 to N2.5million and if you do that four times in a year, that is N10million.”
Why CSS Farms?
With the number of beneficiaries increased to 10, 000 and with the multiplier effects that such empowerment would have in a state where youth unemployment is a major challenge, the imperative of the youths learning from the best then became clearer.
Thus, the choice of CSS Farms, an integrated farm with a farm to fork approach and several groundbreaking records including a record yield of 5.2 tons of maize per hectare at a time the IITA reckoned a 1.9 tons per hectare as the highest yield in Nigeria, and an unmatched expertise in several fields of agriculture and agriculture value chain, cannot but be described as strategic and important.
The Director-General of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) and Coordinator of the YEAP initiative, Dr. Debo Akande, while explaining the rationale behind the state’s decision to choose CSS Farms for the initiative, said that though the state is already building an agribusiness incubation and training centre in Awe, its choice of CSS Farms was due to the integrated farming approach employed by the outfit.
He said: “Practically, we are already building a training centre in Oyo State at Awe but it is still under construction. We cannot wait until the construction gets finalised before we start doing what we need to do or else the planting season is going to be over.
“But we discovered this particular training centre owned by a private sector person within Nasarawa that is integrated, meaning that it has all you can talk about from farm to fork”.
“So, it is a partnership. But the only thing that has made us come here is because the facility, which is currently available here, caters for our needs but this is for the short term.
“In the long term, we will be using the primary facility we are using in Oyo State.
“We will make immediate impact”.
Speaking on their experiences and hopes after the graduation ceremony, beneficiaries of the programme lauded the governor for, again, daring to be different, by introducing an initiative that would empower youths and liberate thousands from poverty instead of handing out peanuts or even ‘empowering’ youths with commercial motorcycles.
They also commended the state government for opening the opportunity of the initiative to all and sundry, noting that Makinde government has proven itself as an administration that believes in fairness and merit, as all beneficiaries got the training opportunity without any sort of influence or ‘connection.’
Ogundiran Omosalewa, a beneficiary, commended the governor for the opportunity provided to youths and promised that he and his colleagues would return to Oyo to make impact.
“I appreciate Governor Seyi Makinde for the opportunity given to us. He has been doing amazing things in Oyo State, which we have never experienced before”, he said.
“Our Internally Generated Revenue used to be N1.2billion but the governor has increased it to about N3.6billion.
“Our politicians used to empower youths with Okada, but Governor Makinde brought us here where we were exposed to world-class training in different areas of agriculture and agribusiness.
“We are assuring His Excellency that when we return to Oyo State, we are going to make an impact and will begin to contribute to the growing IGR of the state”.
Another beneficiary, Rabiu Rahman, from Oorelope Local Government, Igboho, said: “I am a postgraduate student of Bayero University, Kano. After I finished my programme, I started a little livestock business. So, I am an entrepreneur. A friend sent me the link to apply for this programme on WhatsApp, I applied and got it after the interview.
“This is a beautiful programme. We were exposed to best practices of farming. This place is just awesome, because we have learnt different things, ranging from poultry to maize and cassava production and processing. This is an integrated farm and we have been able to learn everything you may want to talk about agriculture”.
Similarly, Ogundele Toluwalase, a private school teacher and agriculture enthusiast, while speaking shortly after his graduation, said the knowledge gained from the training would help the beneficiaries to contribute to fixing the society.
Ajibola Adeola Badru, a young female beneficiary from Ido Local Government, stated that though she is a graduate of Animal Nutrition and Biotechnology, she was never taught the business side of agriculture, which the training opportunity availed her.
• Alao is Special Assistant (Print) to Governor ‘Seyi Makinde
