By Sunday Ani
The Federal Government has concluded plans to unveil the youth farmers’ enrollment portal, which is expected to create millions of direct jobs for the Nigerian youths across the agricultural value chain.
This was disclosed when the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, received a delegation from the Nigerian Youth Economic Engagement and De-Radicalisation Programme (NIYEEDEP) in his office to discuss the way forward for the initiative. During the visit, the Minister was briefed on the progress of the NIYEEDEP and the scheduled unveiling of the portal.
In his remarks, the Coordinator-General of NIYEEDEP, Kennedy, appreciated the Minister for receiving the delegation, and emphasised that the partnership with the Ministry was intended to mobilise young Nigerians to address current economic challenges facing the economy, especially the high youth unemployment, food insecurity and household poverty.
He noted that NIYEEDEP exists to empower Nigerian youths and help to address the outlined key economic problems by creating direct jobs in key sectors, such as agriculture, agro-allied industries, sports, technology, and the creative and digital economy.
He said the portal unveiling ceremony to drive recruitment into the innovative agricultural project would bring together diverse stakeholders, including government officials, industry leaders, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), faith-based organizations (FBOs), development partners, youth organisations, diaspora stakeholders, cooperative networks, security agencies and women groups.
The event would serve as a critical step in operationalizing NIYEEDEP and transforming the youths from job seekers into entrepreneurs, as creators of their own jobs, thus generating wealth and alleviating poverty.
In his response, the Minister expressed his appreciation to the delegation for coming to Nigeria to assist the government in solving the problem of unemployment faced by Nigerian youths, and commended the team for the excellent work so far.
He also reiterated the commitment of President Bola Tinubu towards fulfilling his responsibilities to the Nigerian youths, especially in the areas of capacity building, youths empowerment, skills training, and job creation.
The Minister urged the delegation to take decisive actions to ensure that Nigerian youths could see and feel tangible results from the programme ahead of its unveiling.
The portal, which will provide the Nigerian youths with the opportunity to apply for agricultural grants and other financing and technical support, is expected to be unveiled on Friday, January 17, 2025, in Abuja.
The delegation included Iyere, representatives from the American Grant Writers Association, Ms. Staci Smith and Mr.Marc Paley, as well as African representative for Bayern Munich Football Club, Mr. Victor Obinna Edeh. Others were Innocent Chime, CEO of Top7 Orlando and Onyeka Ogbu, a retired director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).