The Director of Agribusiness Incubation Centre (ABIC), Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Dr. Philips Nto has challenged Nigerian youths to embrace agriculture as a legitimate means of becoming billionaires.
Speaking in his office when the Executive members of National Youth Council of Nigeria, Abia State Chapter, paid him a working visit, Dr Nto also enjoined them to get involved in politics at the local government levels so as to influence decisions on agriculture instead of allowing the older generation to decide their future.
He noted that youths in agriculture could immediately explore the opportunities available in the agricultural value chain, pointing out that the country currently loses a whopping N14 trillion annually due to its inability to harness surplus harvest.
” The next crop of millionaires and billionaires in Nigeria would be youth entrepreneurs who tap in from the opportunities available in the value chain .
“More than N14 trillion is lost annually from post harvest mismanagement of agricultural produce,” the ABIC Director noted.
He pointed out that resourceful entrepreneurs could look at ways of setting up businesses that would preserve surplus harvest or turn them into varieties of consumables, adding that they could also set up factories and transportation businesses .
The Director noted that agribusiness also offers a lot of opportunities for youths to invest in and make legitimate living instead of engaging in criminal activities.
Dr Nto explained that the federal government set up ABIC in some selected universities to offer practical knowledge to such youths and commended the MOUAU Vice Chancellor, Prof Maduebibisi Ofo Iwe for providing them the ambience to operate maximally.
While commending the federal government and the African Development Bank for the on going agro processing zone projects across the country, he however advised that the project should be designed and sited in areas with crop comparative advantage, unlike in the past, when silos were sited indiscriminately, resulting in abandonment .
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Comrade Smith Silvernus, informed Dr Nto that the council in Abia state has concluded arrangements to launch a programme tagged ” Abia Youths back to Farm” ,and needed the assistance of ABIC.
Comrade Silvernus expressed satisfaction with the activities of ABIC and the advice it has offered the youths to embrace agriculture as a means of survival.
He assured that they would explore means of using their grassroots strength to embrace politics as advised by the ABIC director so as to positively influence local farming.
