President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, launched the
National Schools Agriculture Programme (NSAP) aimed at developing a new
generation of youth agriculture enthusiasts from secondary schools.The pilot
phase of the programme, a School Agribusiness Club (SAC), is to be established
in selected schools from 12 states across the six geo-political zones. Each
club will comprise 120 students.
The
pilot states are Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ogun, Oyo, Kano, Kaduna, Ebonyi,
Enugu, Gombe, Bauchi and the Federal Capital Terrority (FCT).
The
programme will also focus on food/vegetable production, horticulture,
aquaculture, poultry, apiary, livestock production, small scale irrigation,
nutrition, processing and packaging, and entrepreneurial skills for members of
agribusiness clubs.
The
NSAP is geared toward building technical and entrepreneurship skills in the
students to run agriculture as a business, equip school leavers with practical
life skills to create jobs for themselves to enable the youths develop a
positive attitude towards agriculture.
President
Jonathan, while celebrating the fact that Nigeria’s food import bill has
reduced from $11 billion to $4.3 billion, assured that his administration
places high premium on the young people, hence the programme which will catch
them young.
He
said one of the challenges facing the sector was the aging population of the
farmers, which in a way had sent a wrong message to the young people who now
see agriculture as an occupation for the poor and less privileged.
“Farming
is a white collar job but the approach is what is wrong,” he said.
The
President said his administration was intent on making agriculture a very
profitable business venture not only to make the nation food sufficient but to
also tackle the challenges of youth unemployment.
He
gave examples with Nigeria’s business and industrial moguls like Aliko Dangote
and Tony Elumelu who are venturing into agriculture business, pointing out that
NSAP is expected to build a crop of under-20 Nigerians adequately motivated and
trained to link up with and continue on the path of such great agriculture
industrialists and entreprenuers.
“We
need the under-20s to link up with the Dangotes, Elumelus and other big
Nigerian entrepreneurs. This is part of our strategy to tackle youth
unemployment,” he stressed.
“We
are developing agriculture Super Eagles,” he said in an analogy with the
nation’s football team, the Super Eagles, that has often made the country
proud.
To
encourage them the President said he will be meeting with them once a year at
an annual exhibition. He urged state governments to buy-in to the programme and
not play politics with it. He also said, some former heads of state will be
incorporated as ambassadors and role models of the NSAP to further encourage
and inspire the students, who he predicted would eventually drop their
hoes and cutlasses and go for tractors and harvesters in the expected
mechanised farming revolution.
On
the choice of secondary schools in the programme the President noted that
statistics have shown that the secondary school system provides the highest
education for Nigerians. About 4400 students will be involved and about
half a million youths will benefit.
Sani,
noted that the effective implementation of the NSAP will act as a catalyst for
agricultural development and poverty alleviation through closing the age gap of
existing farmers, diversifying the economy and creating jobs in the rural
areas.
She
also noted that the multiplier effect of the programme will benefit about
372,960 households.
She
described the programme as Nigeria’s first non-curriculum agricultural
programme designed for Nigerian students to change their negative
perception of agriculture, equip them for life, and eventually help
tackle youth unemployment.
Incentives
for students include scholarships, and exposure to global best practices
and input to agricultural enterprenuership.
According
to her, the goal of NSAP is “to build technical and enterpreneural skills in
students to run agriculture as a business , to leave school leavers with
practical skills to create jobs for themselves, and to enable the youth develop
a positive attitude towards agriculture.”
Also
speaking at the event the Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina said food
is also one of the biggest money making ventures in life, hence the need to
bring in the young people into the business.
“We
need young people in agriculture, We need to put the hoes and cut lasses in the
museum where they belong” he said.
Recalling
that Nigeria was the first in the world to implement the e-wallet system he
said the World Bank has agreed to scale up the programme.
“This
further strengthens our resolve to modernise agriculture” he said adding that
“all the schools will be duly registered under the e-wallet GES system”.
The
Education Minister, Ibrahim Shekarau also noted that school wasn’t only about
reading and writing or just acquiring knowledge but also being exposed to the
activities outside the world.
“This
will be added to the chain lists of core -curricular activities” he said adding
that the schools will be encouraged to ensure that the school agric clubs would
be given the support they require to get to where they want.
“You
will now be exposed to the challenges and things happening outside the
classroom” he adds.
One
of the students, Miss Hamzat Bukola, of Government Model Secondary
School, Maitama, Abuja, who addressed the audience, said “before now, I had the
impression that agriculture was for the old and illiterate but now I know
better”.
Ebonyi
State Governor, Martins Elechi on behalf of the governors of the Pilot states
assured the President that the states will do no less to ensure the success of
the programme.
“I
come from a state backward in education and forward in agriculture” adding that
“education seem to have driven away farming but this programme will bridge the
gap”.
He
said the NSAP will be supported by the governors as part of their
efforts in ensuring agriculture revolution of the administration’s
Transformation Agenda.
He
also pointed out that “what we have now is shadow unemployment – jobs available
have no requisite manpower and the manpower available have no requisite skills
for available jobs.”
The
Plateau state commissioner for education, Attanasius Doshen, who spoke on
behalf of the commissioners, said We will swing into action to ensure that all
programmes set in place to ensure the success of this programme are
implemented.
Goodwill
messages were also presented by the Minister of Education, Ibrahim
Shekarau; and Country Representative of Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO), Louise Setshwaelo.
President
Jonathan named the ambassadors of the National Schools Agriculture Programme.
They former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), Gen. Theophilus
Danjuma (rtd), Com. Ebitu Ukiwe (rtd), Bola Shagayya, Aliko Dangote, Tony
Elumelu, Onyeka Onwenu, Tunji Owoeye, Wilma Aguele and Senator Nimi Amange.
Source: http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=87160
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