Oyo lawmaker organises agro-allied training for constituents

IN a bid to empower members of his constituency, a member representing Ibadan South West\North West Federal Constituency, Honourable Saheed Akinade-Fijabi, last week, organised a three-day agro-allied training for some members of the constituency.

The programme which held at Oke-Bola Comprehensive High School, Oke-Bola, Ibadan, had over 200 participants, comprising youths and young women, learning honey production, snail farming, mushroom production, African locust beans, grass cutter, briquette, seedings production, wood-cement board, fruit tree, spices and medical plants, agroforestry production and enterprises development.

Speaking at the event, Fijabi, said the programme was about youth empowerment in agro-allied enterprises.

He further noted that: “Whatever is yours is yours; no knowledge is a waste. The empowerment is your personal gain to develop because the government won’t provide jobs for everyone. We will also give you some token to start your businesses”.

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Head of the facilitators and member of Forest Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Dr Ayodotun Babadoye, admitted that the unemployment rate in Nigeria is very high and there is no way the government will provide for all the youth.

According to him, the unemployment rate has triggered the programme, and this will help participants to be useful to themselves and go into business in which they have been trained on. After the programme, over 50 per cent are expected to take the empowerment training up as a business.

“We empowered the main youths on 10 different agro-allied forestry enterprises. What we focused on the programme included the production of shea butter, mushroom, locust beans, honey, grass cutter, agro-forestry and among others”.

In appreciation, one of the participants, Odili Jesica Blessing thanked Honourable Fijabi for the opportunity he gave them to learn all the available agro-allied forestry enterprises, while also supporting them financially to go into business.

“I never knew that shea butter seed takes up to 100-years before it brings out the fruit. I also learnt how to make honey, mushroom, locust beans. We were taught how to produce and market them. Although, the process is lengthy but profitable.”