Honourable Minister of
Agriculture and Rural development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina has appointed Popular
Nigeria’s Music star, Dapo Oyebanjo, D’banj, as the Ambassador for the
Nagroprenuers Initiative in Abuja. This was done to help communicate
Nagropreneurs initiatives to youths and also attract teeming unemployed Nigeria
youths to Agriculture. This initiative was part of Federal Government, FG, commitment
to achieving Agricultural Transformational Agenda, ATA, in Nigeria. With this
initiative, the FG is set to replace the old rickety farmers with vibrant
youths and will reduce youth’s unemployment to the barest minimum.
The FG said the
initiative will accommodate about 750, 000 young entrepreneurial farmers for
the country specifically graduates and secondary school leavers, who which will
become the engine in transforming Nigeria’s agriculture in the future. Moreover,
Adesina, promised to give access to land, modern equipment and machineries and
funds, to enable the youth enjoy agriculture as a business.
Nigeria has only cultivated 40%
of her 84 million hectares of arable land, plus 263 billion cubic meters of
water. Nigeria, no doubt, has immense agricultural potential. The country’s
population of 170 million provides a huge market. The FG launched the
Agricultural Transformation Agenda in 2011, with the goal of adding an
additional 20 million MT of food to the domestic food supply by 2015 and stimulating
the creation of 3.5 million jobs along the agricultural value chains. It is
against this backdrop that the FG brought about the Nagropreneurs initiative.
D’banj said he was “proud to be the ambassador to
champion the cause of youth involvement in agriculture.” He compared the sector
to the music industry, saying both industries were not seen as profitable in
the past, but the success story of Nigeria’s music industry can be replicated
in Agriculture.
He believes that with this initiative, a future existed
for the agricultural sector as well and urged Nigerian youths to see
agriculture as a viable venture. “Let the youths be aware that if we don’t focus on
agriculture, we may end up dying of hunger, I am volunteering to be an
ambassador of agriculture under your leadership as minister.” he added. The music star also known as Koko master also said,
he was ready to establish a farm which will be called Koko Farm.
Labels: News/Agrotainment