By: Mayen Etim
KADUNA, North-West, Nigeria – In an effort to support the Government to tackle unemployment and insecurity bedevilling the nation, Teku Int’l Farm and Agro Allied Services Limited, Kaduna on Saturday, May 11, 2019, commenced free training for 150 youth on horticulture and fish farming business.
Founder of Teku Farm, Alhaji Ibrahim Salisu said the gesture was his own little way to give back to the society to help solved the problems of youth restiveness, unemployment, insecurity particularly in Kaduna state.
According to him, the program is a 4-week intensive training to educate, enlightened and also help the youth fight poverty through creativity.
On what motivated him to go into such venture, Alhaji Salisu said there were teaming number of unemployed graduates roaming the streets, and that gives him the reason to motivate them through the training.
“Insecurity is another factor and it’s becoming a big threat to Nigeria; as most people who carry out this dare devil’s activities are youth.
“So, I felt the best way to contribute to salvaged the situation is to bring the youth on board, trained them on horticulture and fish farming business,” he said.
The Head of Department, Horticulture and Landscape Technology, Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, Kaduna State, Dr Akintunde Sodimu said that the youth should know that there are so many things they could lay their hands on which does not require large capital investment.
Dr Sodimu, a Guest Lecturer at the opening of the traibing, said there are different branch of horticulture which includes: Olericulture, Floriculture, Pomology and Landscape Technology.
He explained further that these areas of horticulture deals with flowers, vegetables, fruits and landscape technology.
According to him, the youth needed to exploit these branch of horticulture; pointing out that if they’re able to exploit these areas, he believed that poverty would reduced in the country.
He also said that if Governments are very focused on these areas, immediately the youth are trained they should be established, and set up a committee to monitor them, he believed the youth will do well in the business.
Also speaking, a retired Director of Forestry in the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed, commended Teku Int’l Farms for assisting government in getting the youth out of the streets by engaging them on fruitful venture such as the ongoing training.
He however called on government, philanthropists and other well meaning Nigerians to visit the farms in order to add value to it.
He added that if government assist the farms it will help in no small way to reduce unemployment cum insecurity in the state.
A participant, Ms Precious Matthew, said that she was at the program because of her passion for agriculture.
According to her, as a trained Architect she decided to venture into fish farming with the little knowledge she had previously acquired, but her major focus on the training would be on horticulture.
‘I hope to learn more about horticulture since this is my first time on the business,” she said.