By Festus Ahon, ASABA

THE Federal Government of Nigeria, Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC and International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD assisted Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta, LIFE-ND, Monday, flagged off a-4 day training programme for 80 Incubatees at the Songhai-Amukpe, Sapele, Delta State.

Declaring the 4-day training programme opened, the National Project Coordinator, Mr Sanni Abiodun,  said 80 youths from Delta, Abia, Bayelsa and the Ondo States were picked from various Incubation centres in the four States for the training.

Abiodun who was represented by Financial Inclusion Officer, Miss Obiageli Ekwelie said the LIFE-ND programme was all about empowerment of youths and women between the ages of 18 to 35 years, adding that; “it is 50 50 per cent in terms of the distribution. Female are 50 per cent, the male is 50 per cent. In the female, we have women that feed their families. We give 20 per cent to these ones and 30 per cent to the other female youths”.

Speaking to newsmen moments after, Miss Obiageli Ekwelie said; “the training programme is necessary to educate and intimate these Incubatees on what they are expected to do. It is not just enough to be attached to a farm to learn the required skill in the Agric business. They should be able to have the basic knowledge of how they could access the various funds that they will require to push themselves to achieve their desired goals”.

On what the training programme is all about and her expectation of the participants, Ekwelie said: “They are expected to have learnt and equipped to now know how to go about their businesses. And we will also help them, not just by giving them this training but also help them on how to access these funds.

Also read: Rep member tasks youths on agriculture , self employment

“Now there are financial institutions that we lookout to work with. This has to do with agriculture, we won’t go to the Bank of Industry for instance to seek funds to assist these ones. It has to be banks related to agriculture and other projects too that are involved in empowering youths. So, we also go ahead to help them access these funds and ensure that they get the required finance that they need”.

Speaking on the sidelines of the training programme, the Agric Business Coordinator, Mrs Anthonia Esenwa, said; “actually LIFE-ND program is basically to promote agriculture businesses for the youths. That is to develop the interest of the youths in agriculture, considering the dwindling revenue from crude oil.

“The focus is now shifting from oil towards Agriculture. This program is assisted by IFAD and NDDC to stimulate the interest of our youths in agro-business. The financial inclusion literacy scheme is aimed at exposing the youths to financial privileges that they can leverage to expand their own projects.

“This is because we will not continue to finance them and you will agree with me that there is no business, no project that you are doing that you will not require a relationship with the bank in terms of giving loans, giving training towards future investment etc. So that is what the training is all about, to teach them about financial privileges and how they can take advantage of it”.

Also talking to Journalists on the sidelines of the training programme, the Lead Consultant for the LIFE-ND, Mr Steve Ogidan said; “Financial inclusion literacy training is an important component of LIFE-ND project. This training is to teach them how to manage their funds, which types of loans they should be able to take; how to structure their finances so that their businesses will be able to employ more people.

“This is what we are doing; this is why we brought them to Sungai-Delta, to be able to train them. Let them see practical experience on agric business and when they do this very well, then we now link them with financial institutions”.

Two Incubatees, Jonadab Ikpameze from Abia State and Emmanuella Agbodo from Bayelsa State who spoke to newsmen separately commended the organisers of the programme, expressing hope that they would be better positioned as farmers at the end of the training programme.

Vanguard News Nigeria