Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government has urged youths to deepen their interest in farming before struggling to occupy political positions.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, said this, yesterday, in Abuja, at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria Agricultural Mechanisation and Equipment Leasing Company (NAMEL) and MANTRAC Nigeria Limited, to open up 500, 000 hectares of unused land, to boost food sufficiency.
Ogbeh urged youths to cash in on the partnership, to secure land, bearing in mind that the onus of feeding the nation lies squarely on them.
Represented by the Director General, Victor Mayomi, he said: “I implore our youths to take advantage this project.
“Youths should come into agriculture to take advantage of the project, bearing in mind the responsibility of feeding the nation will increasingly depend on them from now, into the nearest future.
“Youths should not only be interested in taking over from politicians, let them go to the field and take it over first. And, when they can feed us, we will be encouraged to entrust our destiny to them.”
Meanwhile, NAMEL’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ahmed Adekunle, pointed out that the project is “structured to complement and optimise government efforts and resources in land development, using a cost split mechanism support smallholder farmers and youth empowerment programmes, while creating a flexible investment window for medium and large scale primary production investor to open more land with little initial cost.”