Group tackles insecurity with agriculture

In its efforts to tackle the increasing unemployment rate and security challenges facing the nation, Nehemiah Youth Empowerment Initiative (NYEI),  a non-profit, non-governmental organization, has put up an Agriculture Empowerment Scheme, which it said was aimed at meaningfully empowering and engaging youths across the country to stay away from crime.

Addressing newsmen in Lagos recently Chairperson of NYEI, Ms Emilomo Unuigbe, averred that the initiative has become necessary due to the urgent need to tackle the increasing youth unemployment rate, which has in turn contributed largely to the insecurity situation rocking the country.

She said: “In light of the recent insecurity situation, especially in the Northern Nigeria, we felt the need to empathize with the Northern youths. As such, we agreed that we could reach these young adults via the platform of Agriculture.

“300 potential farmers attended the event in Gujeni district in Kaduna. 50 of which were shortlisted based on their ability to display keen interest in becoming Agro-entrepreneurs. The first 25 of these 50 wrote the Leventis Foundation Agriculture exams and 13 of them were successful. The NYEI sponsored and enrolled these 13 candidates in the Leventis Agriculture Program”, Unuigbe disclosed.

According to her, NYEI commenced the first phase of its project tagged ‘I am Nigeria’ in 2012, stressing that the theme of the current project was essentially to reiterate “our oneness as Nigerians despite our diversity.

“We are about to commence Phase 3 of the ‘I am Nigeria project wherein the successful 50 ‘Community Champions’ as we like to call them, will be given parcels of land and equipped with the resources required to farm over the next three years.

“Our vision is to empower young adults between ages 18-30 to pursue careers based on their innate God-given talents, hoping that they in turn will be able to replicate same within the society”, she explained.