NOT fewer than one hundred persons benefited from the capacity building and empowerment programme on agricultural entrepreneurship for youths, women and farmers in Oyo South senatorial district. The programme which held at the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), was facilitated by the senator representing Oyo South, Senator Kola Balogun, and drew participants from the nine local government areas that make up Oyo South senatorial district.
Speaking at the opening of the 3-day event, Senator Balogun said he is deeply concerned about the mind-boggling rate of unemployment in the country and had been occupied with how to play a major role in resolving the issue which, he described, as the nation’s number one challenge, adding that the current state of insecurity in the country is a function funemployment and a dysfunctional economy.
He said this prompted his first visit to the IAR&T shortly after he won the 2019 election to see how he could partner with the institute to provide employment opportunities through empowerment, develop agriculture for food sufficiency and ultimately reduce poverty and hunger. While recalling that the leadership of the First Republic used agricultural produce to effectively develop the regions, the lawmaker urged the nation’s leadership to leverage on agriculture, mineral resources and entertainment to move the nation from a monolithic economy to a diversified one.
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