House of Representatives member, Adeniyi Ojuawo, has canvassed the need to expose youth to activities that will make them productive and lead meaningful lives.
Ojuawo, a member representing Ekiti South Federal Constituency 1, said empowering youths to engage in ventures like agriculture and production would stem the tide of crime in society.
The federal lawmaker spoke at Ikere Ekiti on Thursday during a two-day capacity-building workshop with the theme, “Agroprenuer: Building reliance and sustainability in crop production and animal husbandry” that he organised to train about 100 youths and farmers in his constituency on modern crops production and animal husbandry techniques.
He said, “This programme was initiated to scale up interventions and explore value chains to enhance agricultural productivity. Each of the 100 beneficiaries will receive agricultural inputs, grants including improved seeds after the training exercise.”
Ojuawo, who restated commitment to creating job opportunities in the agribusiness and as well revolutionizing agriculture in his constituency to ensure food-sufficiency, said, “With this training programme, our vision is to expose the mind of youths to business opportunities in farming and as well enhance agricultural practices.
“Idleness, want of what to do and restiveness are leading many youths to crime, hence the need to make them busy and productive. It is against this background that I charge participants to key into best agricultural practices to improve their productivity. ”
Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji, lauded the lawmaker for building the capacity of farmers in Ise/Orun, Ikere, and Ekiti Southwest local government areas.
Oyebanji, represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Ebenezer Boluwade, said, “The present administration in Ekiti State is committed to promotion and facilitation of policies aimed at making the state self-sufficient in food production and creating job in agriculture value-chain to enhance industrialization in the state.