For many young men and women in Nigeria, it is the dream career. Ask them where they want to work, and the answer flows forth without hesitation: the banking industry. Little wonder you can hardly hide your shock when you find a young man who actually studied banking in school but has since jettisoned that childhood ambition of becoming one of Nigeria’s top banking chiefs.
But that was exactly what Akinkuade Benson did. The young man has dumped banking, which he studied in the university, for a career in the most unlikely profession– farming! Today, Benson not only works as a farmer, he actually lives on a farm. But it’s not the typical farm where some makeshift, dingily constructed thatched hut serves as shelter for the labouring farmers. Benson lives and works in the Ondo State government-owned Caring Heart Agriculture Village situated in Ore, Ondo State.
TOPE ADEBOBOYE
For many young men and women in Nigeria, it is the dream career. Ask them where they want to work, and the answer flows forth without hesitation: the banking industry. Little wonder you can hardly hide your shock when you find a young man who actually studied banking in school but has since jettisoned that childhood ambition of becoming one of Nigeria’s top banking chiefs.
But that was exactly what Akinkuade Benson did. The young man has dumped banking, which he studied in the university, for a career in the most unlikely profession– farming! Today, Benson not only works as a farmer, he actually lives on a farm. But it’s not the typical farm where some makeshift, dingily constructed thatched hut serves as shelter for the labouring farmers. Benson lives and works in the Ondo State government-owned Caring Heart Agriculture Village situated in Ore, Ondo State.
The Ore farm is one of three such farm villages established by the state government through the Ondo State Wealth Creation Agency (WECA). The other two farms are in Auga and Epe.
Benson is the Departmental Head of the Poultry Section of the Ore Agric Village. The man, also called governor of the section, is one of the thousands of university graduates that have found a new calling in the agriculture initiative of the present governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.
Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said the participants already see the farm settlements as their own. His words: “What government did was to invite graduates in whatever discipline who might be interested in farming. Government provided large pieces of land, provided the needed materials and the funding, constructed houses on the farms for them and then set them on the way to becoming not just millionaires but employers of labour.
“The participants are also co-owners of the farm, even though it is the government that provides the land, accommodation, and a monthly stipend for participants’ upkeep. All the participants have to do is to maintain the farms, ensure adequate care for the fingerlings at the ponds and nurture the birds. After harvest, the participants take the profit while the capital goes back into the business.”
He said the scheme is turning about 15, 000 hitherto unemployed graduates to self-employed men and women and employers of labour.
Spread over an expanse of 10000 hectares of land, the agric village in Ore provides training and a livelihood for young men and women who have already completed their university education in any discipline but wish to stand on their own as farmers. Arable farming, poultry and fishery are the main preoccupation of participants on the Ore farm.
Benson, a native of Idanre, told this reporter that he holds a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Ado-Ekiti. Like millions of other young men, he was quite hopeful that after graduation, he would soon get a job and start a normal life. But the job wasn’t there.
“When I was getting frustrated, the state government came up with this agric village thing and I embraced the idea. Today, my life has changed,” he told the reporter.
Benson is now married and is gradually raising his family. He said the programme took off in April last year, adding that people in his department rear birds from day-old chicks to the point of lay.
“We practise two types of rearing birds here. We start from the deep litter system after which we switch to the cage,” he said.
At the Ore village, there are currently 15, 000 birds, with about 65 participants working on the 14 pens on the settlement. “There are two cages in a pen, and 720 birds in one pen,” Benson stated.
He was also very excited that he wouldn’t be searching for a job anymore. “The government of Ondo State has taught us how to fish, and the lesson won’t end here. Right now, I’m not interested in going back to banking. I want to stand on my own. I know how much I make here. Kudos to Governor Mimiko, and I hope other governors will emulate this laudable programme. It will no doubt help in combating joblessness and crime.”
Opeyemi Ebenezer, a graduate of Animal Production and Technology who hails from Epinmi-Akoko, is the Deputy Departmental Head of the Poultry Department at Ore. He told the reporter that he was having fun at the farm. “So far, so good,” he said. “It is great that one is participating in a novel initiative of the state government. Here, it’s like you are given fish and also taught how to fish at the same time. So far, the state government has not disappointed. If it continues like this, then one will have a good cause to smile.”
Elizabeth Ileriayo is one of the participants at the Fishery Section of the Agric Village. The young lady who studied Agric-Economics and Extension at the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma had also thought of getting a job in the bank. But after participating in the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, she searched for jobs to no avail. She even looked outside the banks, yet there was no luck. She later learnt of the state government’s initiative and embraced the idea.
She said there are about 250 ponds at the village, each pond housing about 2, 000 fishes.
“I graduated from the university in 2008 and after service, I had been searching for a job. I thank God that the governor established this scheme that is making thousands of young people like me smile again. Although I was taught a little of this in school, especially in the theory aspect, it was in this place that I learnt the practical example. Now, I can go out and boast, and tell people about myself that yes, I am a fish farmer. I’m grateful to the After here, I will look for a conducive area and start my own ponds. So I don’t have to start looking for a white-collar job before feeding myself and living my life. The programme is good, we are enjoying it and we are resident here too. What it means is, I will soon become an employer of labour. I am grateful to the government.”
Akinmade said before the end of last year, the agric village in Ore had 80 hectares of planned cassava farm already being allocated and 47 hectares of maize already harvested. Besides the fishponds and mushrooms demonstration farm, 600,000 oil palm from Indonesia and 200,000 from NIFOR in Benin were planted at the pre-nursery shed.
“Currently, 5,500 farms have been distributed to interested participants under the Employment through Ownership In Agric Ventures while 350 ad hoc farm workers have been provided with employment,” he stated.
It was learnt that 2,750 hectares of land have been acquired and surveyed in Epe while 4000 have been surveyed in Auga- Akoko. Participants are also fully working at the two agric villages. And to further ensure food security for citizens in the state through employment creation, the state government has flagged off the Mobile Farm Service Centre at Ipele in Owo Local Government area with 20 graduates employed to manage the centres.
The state governor, Dr. Mimiko has also been very upbeat about the villages. Said the governor: “We are modest; we call them Agricultural Villages while, indeed, they qualify to be called ‘cities’ because all that are needed for quality life are provided: modern residences for the farmers with modern ICT systems; all equipment for mechanised farming and ready market for products.
“One interesting thing about the Auga Farm is that it combines crop farming, fish farming and a ranch. As at today, we have completed the facility for 1,000 cattle; the ponds are well under construction and those who should know have said a few years down the line, it might become the biggest cattle ranch in West Africa. Both Auga and Epe will mop up 1,000 graduates each and this is apart from support staff members, who are mostly non-graduates. Our goal is simple: we want to use agriculture as a tool for mass employment, food security and raw material for industry.”
Read original post from the Sun News Online website.