The Enugu State government, South-East Nigeria, has sponsored no fewer than 260 youths to be trained in modern agriculture in Nasarawa State, North-Central Nigeria.
Mr Michael Ogbuekwe, the Special Adviser to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi on Agriculture, disclosed the development while noting that the beneficiaries were drawn from the 17 Local Government Areas of the State.
“The training is part of the efforts of the Governor Ugwuanyi-led administration to engage youths in agriculture.
“The beneficiaries would participate in a two-week training at the CSS Global Farms in Keffi,” Ogbuekwe said.
According to him, the training would empower the youths with agricultural experiences in line with international best practices.
He also stressed that the governor was committed to ensuring agricultural development in the State, as well as efficient and effective involvement of the youth and other indigenes of the State in modern agriculture.
“We want our people to gather skills that they can give back to the ecosystem, the agricultural system.
“What we want to achieve, according to the policies and programmes of our Governor, is that we want our rural communities to be the engine room of the economic development of our State.
“With the knowledge-based experience to be acquired from the training, we can see our young ones becoming business entrepreneurs with a high standard of operations in the agricultural value chain.
“So, at the end of the day, we should see the products of this effort and expect to see partnership among these youths.
“We expect to see our youths keying into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) programmes and State grants, among others, to develop into successful agro-businessmen and women,” Ogbuekwe said.
Source: Agro Nigeria