ARDS trains 600 FCT youths on Agro entrepreneurship

Stories by Stanley Onyekwere

In furtherance of its reinvigorated effort to effectively address challenge of unemployment in the FCT, the Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS) has organized an employment workshop on Agro entrepreneurship for 600 youth in the Territory.
The youth, drawn from the six Area Councils of the FCT, gathered at the Atlas Hotel in Gwagwalada, where they were drilled on useful agro-entrepreneurial skills for self-reliance.
Speaking at the event, ARDS Secretary, Nzekwe Stanley Ifeanyichukwu said the Initiative aimed at addressing socio-economic challenges faced by youth by equipping them with relevant skills that will enable them become self-employed and generate incomes for themselves and their families.
He urged the youth, most of whom are graduates, to embrace various opportunities that abound in the agricultural sector.
According to him, “This workshop will not have come at a better time, especially now that our dear country is grappling with the challenges of youth restiveness.
“And high poverty rate which is worsened by the lack of vocational skills that will provide youth with viable options to earn sustainable livelihood.”
Furthermore, Nzekwe who reassured farmers of the preparedness of Agriculture Secretariat for the new farming season, disclosed that Agric Extension workers will be deployed to the rural communities to provide them with services that will enhance good agronomic practices.
Earlier in his remarks, District Head of Gwako, Alhaji Salihu Usman, noted that the growing number of unemployed youth Calla for great concern, because lvl of sustainable means of livelihood has pushed a lot of them into crime.
The community leader, while commending the FCT Administration for the initiative, assured the government of the full support of the traditional institution towards its success.
Not left out, a beneficiary of the programme from Gwagwalada, Mallam Kabiru Abdullahi thanked FCT Administration for coming to their aid with the programme.
He said the training provides them with all they need to become self employed most of the participants who are graduates are bereft of entrepreneurial skills.