Agribusiness Will Create Jobs For Youths, Says Makinde

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has declared that agribusiness will create thousands of jobs for youths in the state.

Makinde, who stated this on Thursday at the Old Farm Settlement, Eruwa, Oyo State, added that his administration would also complete the Ido-Eruwa road within the next year, charging residents of Ibarapa zone to make investors feel welcome when the new agribusiness hub is completed.

He noted that the government recently approved the release of a tranche of N2 billion to the contractor handling the road project to fast-track its progress.

According to the governor, the administration established the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) as a special-purpose vehicle to drive agribusiness in the state. So far, the state has achieved great success and has become a model for other states and even some African countries in agribusiness.

He equally expressed confidence that the new Agribusiness Hub in Eruwa would also be a success story like the Fasola Agribusiness Hub, as, according to him, development partners and investors who have already committed to contributing to the facility were present at the ground-breaking ceremony.

He said: “About five years ago, we started what I will call the journey to make agribusiness the driver of Oyo State’s economy.

“Immediately we came into office, we got access to a N7.6 billion loan facility taken by the previous administration. We planned to use this loan to ensure that two moribund farm settlements are converted into agribusiness hubs.

“So, we started a pilot project at the moribund Fasola Farm Settlement, which we picked to serve as a prototype. It was an ambitious project because no state in Nigeria had ever done that.

“At first, we thought it would take about a year to complete the pilot project at Fasola, which is about 1,000 hectares. By calculation, it is more significant than Victoria Island in Lagos. Eruwa Farm Settlement is three times bigger than Fashola, and what you see in the new Fasola Agribusiness Hub today is what we are putting up here.

“Fashola has taught us a vast lesson; we know we can take on this project and see it to completion.

“As of today, it is not only that all states in Nigeria have come to inspect Fasola; we have had officials from Ogun, Ekiti, Cross River, Borno, Plateau, Delta, Bayelsa and Gombe states. We have also had visitors from outside Nigeria, including Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique and Kenya.”