Niger Governor Charges Youths to Embrace Farming

Laleye Dipo in Minna

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Umaru Bago, has told youths to take to farming instead of waiting for white collar jobs.

Bago, in a message at the closing of the two-day Niger State Council on Agriculture, which took place in Minna, explained that apart from making the youths self-employed in farming, “it is more profitable than civil service jobs.”

Governor Bago, who was represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Government House, Alhaji Yussuf Sadiq, at the event with the theme: ‘Driving Transformative And Sustainable Agricultural Reform in Niger State: Bridging Policy And Impact To Overcome Systemic Gap’, explained that farming would also put the youths in a position to feed themselves and the nation, and leave the surplus for export thereby generating income for state and nation.

The governor assured the people of the state of the determination of the administration to continue to invest in farming to boost the income of the state and make it less dependent on revenue from the federation account.

Bago commended the agricultural policy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, arguing that within a short period, it had impacted positively on the national economy and the lives of Nigerians.

The Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Mathew  Ahmed, in a speech, disclosed that the forum was organised to “close the gap between policy formulation and implementation.”

 Ahmed appreciated the moral and financial support received by the state from donor agencies, which has placed the state topon the ladder of agriculture-producing states in the country.

The forum witnessed the exhibition of various agricultural produce, equipment, and inputs.