Don’t Wait For White Collar Jobs, Diri Charges Youths …Harps On Agroprenuers Businesses

Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri has charged youths of the state to explore business and investment opportunities in the agricultural sector as a source of empowerment.

The Governor gave the charge at the 2027 World Food Day(WDF) Celebration in Yenagoa, the State capital on Friday  themed: “Innovate Today, Nourish Tomorrow,”

He noted that farming is a blessing and not a punishment as some people erroneously think.

Deputy Governor of the State,  Dr Peter Akpe who represented the governor said the global theme could not be more fitting and called on the youths to embrace agriculture as a career, instead of staying idle and waiting for white collar jobs.

He also encouraged civil servants and families to take up backyard farming and urged financial institutions to make credit accessible to smallholder farmers in the state.

The governor who also appreciated beneficiaries of government grants  and agripreneurs who shared their success stories, describing them as living proof that agriculture in the State was not only a way of life but also a business that could create jobs and wealth.

According to him, “the State was blessed with water and fertile land and my administration has secured some strategic partnerships to ensure food security”.

He noted that the State flagged-off its maiden dry season  farming programme at its Otuasega Farm in Ogbia Local Government Area and in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria installed rice mills at the Niger Delta University and the Federal University,  Otuoke.

The governor explained that the intention was to enable Made-in-Bayelsa rice move from the fields to the markets and that thousands of farmers from across the eight local government areas of the State have received seedlings and farm inputs.

The Bayelsa helmsman encouraged youths to embrace innovation, considering the state’s peculiar terrain, plant flood-tolerant seed varieties, as well as apply modern aquaculture to complement the wild fisheries that pollution has depleted.

Governor Diri also tasked Youths of the State to engage in soilless farming, partnerships, ensuring processing, storage, and cold chains to prevent food wastage.

He commended the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, and the LIFE-ND programme for building agribusinesses among young people as well as the Peremabiri Farmers Cluster for demonstrating what well organised and innovative farmers could achieve.

On the need to protect farmers, the governor cautioned herders against attacks on farmers in the state, saying that the state’s law which criminalises open grazing was still in force.

Commending the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources for organising the celebration, Governor Diri charged it to work towards meeting the targets set by the government to enable the people of the state buy Bayelsa rice this Yuletide season.

“Let me be frank: government cannot do it alone, and it should not try to do so. Our role as a government is to create an enabling environment and provide access roads.  Our focus on roads cannot be derailed. We must construct bridges to farms and support farming settlements. We must also continue to improve security for farmers and their crops.

“The actual farming must be done by our people. I therefore call on our youths to see agriculture as a career, not a punishment. We are already witnessing some changes. In fact, many people from outside the state are taking advantage of the beauty and productivity of our soil, and are engaging in fishing and farming.

“We are calling on our youths in Bayelsa to return to agriculture and increase their participation, so that they can also account for a significant proportion of those registered under the relevant agricultural programmes. The grant beneficiaries and agripreneurs sharing their stories with us today are living proof that agriculture in Bayelsa is not only a way of life but also a business that can create wealth and jobs”, he said.

In his address, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources,  Prof Beke Sese, said since 2020, more than 17,300 farmers have received direct support through various programmes, including the Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme, Diri BOOST and the Prosperity Farmers Grant Scheme.

He noted that this year alone, 2,106 farmers, fishers and processors across all eight local government areas have received grants and that beneficiaries were expanding their cultivation efforts and laying a strong foundation for statewide agricultural prosperity.

According to Prof Sese, the state’s 410-tonne-a-day rice milling plant was now fully operational and performing at optimal capacity, turning  paddy into polished, Made-in-Bayelsa rice.

“We are cultivating 106 hectares of rice and buying paddy from the communities we supply, so that while you plant, you know a buyer is waiting. The Bayelsa rice plant is currently undergoing laboratory analysis for food and nutritional certification and will soon be launched into the mark.

In his remarks,  National President,  All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Dr. Farouk Rabiu Mudi, said the association was pleased with Governor Diri’s strides in the agricultural sector.

Highpoint of the event was the presentation of an AFAN award of excellence by Dr. Mudi, on behalf AFAN members to Bayelsa State Governor as the Best Governor in Agricultural Connectivity and Farmers’ Support in the country.

By Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa