By Yabagi Mohammed
As part of its determination to involve the youths of the state in its revolution in agriculture, Kogi State Government has donated 100 hectares of land for the commencement of Kogi Youths Farm in the state.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hon Kehinde Oloruntoba, made the revelation known to the public when the leadership of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) paid a working visit in his office today in Lokoja.
The commissioner, who extolled the need for youths to embrace the agricultural sub-sector because it is fast becoming the alternative to oil in Nigeria, informed the youths that the present administration in Kogi State is committed to making it attractive so that it would serve as employment provider for them.
According to the commissioner, the sector, if well utilized, is capable of serving multiple responsibility, as it would also that the vast arable lands the state is blessed with are put into effective use to boost food production and end hunger in the state and Nigeria at large.
Hon Kehinde, who noted that the present Agricultural revolution in the state is targeted main at the youths, maintained that government seeks to empower Kogi youths through it by providing needed resources that would make farming not only to be attractive, but also lucrative.
He then informed his gusts that government has secured lands across the three Senatorial Districts of Kogi State, some of which it has begun utilization by providing land to young people who are ready to till.
As an incentive, the commissioner said farming facilities including fertilizers have been procured and that the ministry is ready to make them available to the farmers at a subsidized rate.
The Commissioner then granted the request that had earlier been made by the council for involvement by directing that a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) be drafted and signed by the various parties as soon as possible for the youths to take advantage of the raining season and start planting.
Earlier in an address, the Chairman of the council, Comrade Oladele Nihi, had made the request during when he stated that agriculture is one of the cardinal agendas of his Youth Rebirth Blueprint, a document framework he had designed for his tenure in the council.
Comrade Nihi stressed that the NYCN is committed to ensuring that the youths of Kogi State are empowered through agriculture, which is capable of empowering them and creating job opportunities.
He maintained that the council decided to partner with government following the kind of investment it has seen the government make in the field of agriculture since the inception of the New Direction government.
Comrade, who used the occasion to call on the youths to cash in on agriculture, said it is the new sector that can push the state and the nation’s economy to the desired level.
