The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, has charged youth corps members to develop an interest in agriculture to enable them to be self-reliant.

He stated this at the inauguration of the 2021 Farming season by NYSC Youth Corps members on 16-hectare farmland secured by the NYSC in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa on Saturday.

Mr Ibrahim said since 2012, NYSC had introduced a number of programmes, including the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme, aimed at teaching corp members skills they would need to be self-employed given the scarcity of white-collar jobs.

He said one of the training offered by SAED is agriculture, a sector capable of lifting many from poverty and employing many young Nigerians.

”With demonstrations on this farmland, we want to encourage corps members to show more interest in agriculture and earn their livelihood through it,” he said.

Mr Ibrahim thanked the Andoma of Doma, Aliyu Onawo, for offering the land to NYSC for agriculture demonstration to corps members, among other uses.

He said that the acquisition of the land and the practical use of it would go a long way to convince corps members to see agriculture as a viable alternative.

“We urge other royal fathers and state governments to emulate the good gesture of the Andoma to avail lands to our corps members so that they can showcase their talents and get experience in farming,” he said.

Also speaking, the Nasarawa state deputy governor, Emmanuel Akabe, lauded the commitment of the NYSC in pushing the agriculture agenda of the federal government to youth corps members with a view to encouraging them to be self-reliant.

Mr Akabe, who was represented by the Commissioner of Agriculture and Water Resources, Allalana Otaki, pledged Nasarawa State Government’s support for the NYSC agriculture initiative.

In his remark, the state NYSC coordinator Stephen Dewan expressed excitement over the farming season development.

He promised to ensure that corps members in the state are thoroughly trained and exposed to the numerous opportunities available in the agriculture sector.

According to the president of the NYSC Nasarawa state Agro-Allied Community Development Service (CDS) group, Johnbenedict Tyoakosu, the group would commence the farming season with the planting of melon seeds and also beniseed.

Mr Tyoakosu noted that the agricultural activities on the Demonstration Farm would contribute to the food security of Nasarawa State and Nigeria as a whole.

(NAN)