By ROSEMARY ONUOHA

Mr.  Friday  Ejam, Chief Executive Officer of Jubuckz Nigeria Limited said his company is determined to change the thinking of young Nigerians towards farming and encourage them to exploit opportunities in agribusiness.

Mr. Ejam, who spoke with newsmen in Lagos, said he has been in the forefront of those championing for the adoption of agribusiness as the major driver of the Nigerian economic growth.

He explained that Nigerian youths are losing out of the enormous opportunities in the sector due to a negative perception towards farming.

He believes that government policies should play a leading role in encouraging young people to go into agribusiness. “Government should establish youth agriculture business investment initiative in the country. Take the National Youth Service (NYSC) for instance, can serve as a platform.

Instead of young graduates wasting an entire year doing next to nothing, the government should ensure that these youths get the needed training in both the operation and business of agriculture. By the time they finish the service year, you’ll discover that they would not head to the cities for white collar jobs that are simply not there, they are ready for business” he explained. The large scale commercial farmer further noted that access to funding, land and so forth are all within the power of the government to provide in order to encourage the youths.

Ejam, who spent close to a decade in the banking industry before he voluntarily resign to explore the extremely large opportunities in agribusiness, explained that the Nigerian agricultural sector is rapidly transforming into a modernized, productive and competitive force. “The available opportunities in agriculture through agribusiness SMEs are enormous.

The value chain in agribusiness consists of but not limited to farming, processing, preservation, storage, packaging, distribution, breeding, farm machinery, transportation, marketing, seed supply and so forth”. The Jubuckz boss believes that the energy, knowledge and enthusiasm of the youthful population hold the key that will unlock and boost food supply as well as grow the Nigerian economy. He noted, “The nature of global agricultural market is changing in terms of technology, quality and standards.

I am one of those that believe that it is time for the bulk of the youths, many of whom are well educated and entrepreneurial, to step up and play key roles in the emerging opportunities. Agribusiness is a veritable platform to do that”. According to the entrepreneur, Jubockz Nigeria Limited is an integrated agribusiness company established to explore opportunities presented by virtue of Nigeria’s journey towards becoming agriculturally industrialized economy. He revealed that the company is focused on plantain farming and its food derivatives.

This decision, he said, was borne out of a strong believe that plantain farming can boost job creation, youth empowerment and ultimately wealth creation. He commended the federal government in its effort to support the agricultural sector and wants the government to attract the youths into the sector by collaborating with commercial banks to provide loans at single digit rates as well as to make them to have access to land.