Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State has restated his administration’s commitment to food security for residents of the state through various collaborations with investors in agribusiness and young farmers, saying his target for 2025 is to record a significant increase in production in the sector to feed the people.
Governor Oyebanji gave this indication while inspecting the Bring Youth Back into Agriculture Project farms in Oke Ako Ekiti, Iyemero Ekiti, and Gede in the North senatorial Districts on Saturday.
The governor, who was accompanied on the visit by some top government officials, disclosed that the state’s budget for 2025 would focus more on agriculture, to ensure food sufficiency and make Ekiti the food basket of the country.
While noting that his government’s deliberate investment in agriculture was already yielding the desired positive results, the governor said his government in the last two years, had prioritized investment in agriculture, boosted the capacity of farmers and created a market for farm produce as part of efforts to enhance food production and tackle food insecurity.
Governor Oyebanji also expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing the necessary impetus for the state to thrive in agriculture and other sectors and promised that his administration will continue to provide economic opportunities for youths in the state and position them to be employers of labour.
The governor added that the State has also improved on its agricultural policies and guaranteed the needed infrastructure and support to drive the State’s agriculture development plans, adding that his administration was looking at ways to scale up food production and make the state self-reliant.
Speaking further, Governor Oyebanji said the 2025 budget, aside from focusing on agriculture and food security, would prioritize the welfare of citizens, saying his administration in the last two years had done a lot in infrastructure, stressing that he would de-risk the agricultural value chain by scaling up security, provide electricity and rehabilitate roads to farms.
“I’m superbly excited about the outcome of the agriculture strategy, a few months ago, we flagged off this programme, ‘bring back our youths into agriculture’ and I believe strongly that the only way to prosperity is productivity and bring our youths back to work, the government has to provide the platforms for them.
“We partnered with our people and YSJ, a private sector agric company to work out a strategy of bringing back our youths to agric where the government cleared land for them free of charge, subsidized inputs by fifty percent. I am just going around today to see the outcome of this effort and I am happy that it has turned round this way.
“What this has taught me is the fact that Ekiti youths are not lazy, Ekiti youths are productive, they can work and what they need is just the platform. I have always been saying it that Ekiti can rival any state in the federation, but as a government, we need to provide a platform for people to exhibit their potential and this is what we have done.
“Next year’s budget is going to focus on welfare and agriculture, we have done a lot with infrastructure, education and health, the time has come for us to feed our people and my target for next year is to grow enough food to feed Ekiti people.”
At Oke Ako Ekiti, Governor Oyebanji, while applauding the youths for their dexterity and commitment to the success of the project, assured the people that his government had already concluded plans to commence rehabilitation of the road from Ayedun to Oke Ako with a pledge to also provide electricity to the town within a short time.
At the palace of the Regent of Oke Ako, the Governor assured that those whose farms were acquired and enumeration completed would receive their compensation within two weeks. He pleaded with them to maintain decorum with the investors and the youths carrying out farming in the area. He assured that no member of the community has collected any money from the government on their behalf.
He also hailed the people of Iyemero Ekiti and Gede, for their support for the projects, adding that road infrastructure would be prioritized in the area to enhance movement of produce.
“Despite the shortage of rain this year, you are not discouraged, we are looking at a process whereby we provide irrigation and as well provide each of you with a pair of raincoats and boots. We will also provide a vehicle to each of the groups to allow for easy mobility and make the farms accessible at all times.
“Please note that the support I am giving you was provided by President Bola Tinubu, the state government doesn’t have that kind of resources. I went to him and I told him I wanted to get involved in agriculture. He gave us that support and I promised myself that when we get those resources, we will invest them in agriculture, so, from those resources, we should be able to get a bus for each group. The Governor stated.
The youths at the various farm sites had earlier reeled out the demands from the government including the provision of buses to give them easy access to their farms, free inputs, agriculture loans, accommodation to the farmsteads as well as rehabilitation of roads to the farms among others.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
