Only agriculture can solve Nigeria’s unemployment problem –Omoteso
Former Director of Audit, Lagos State University, Ojo and founder of Omoteso Farmers, Augustus Omoteso, has said that Nigeria’s unemployment crisis would persist if the country’s leadership continues to ignore farming as an approach to solving the problem confronting the country’s youths.
The Secretary of Sheep & Goat Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State, who spoke to Saturday Independent exclusively in his farm at Agbado, a suburb of Lagos, said he is always almost shedding tears each time he passes through Ijebu Ore/Ore Road and sees a vast uncultivated land lying fallow and yet Nigerian youths are going round in circle without jobs.
“Whenever I pass through Ijebu Ode/Ore Road and I see a vast portion of land lying uncultivated I am always close to tears because if the government is ready to eliminate unemployment in this country, it should be from the angle of farming,” he said.
“With the Ijebu Ode/Ore Road portion of land, government can start with 1,000 graduates; put them on six months training on pig farming, because for pigs, you only require six months training, then after the training, offer each of them five hectres of land and a paltry N100,000 to start. And in the next six months or maximum one year, these people would be able to employ other employable applicants and even graduates,” he said.
While narrating the potential in agriculture to solving the employment problem in the country, Omoteso said that when his son came back home as a graduate of agricultural science, he sent him to Soggy in the Republic of Benin to undergo a six-month training in piggery and today, his son is happy he took to his advice.
“My son read agricultural science in one of the leading Universities in Nigeria and when he graduated, I sent him to Soggy in the Republic of Benin to do six months course after which he returned to look for job and when he got one and they were ready to pay him N70,000 per month, I discouraged him and asked him to concentrate on the management of my farm.”
For instance, he took four pigs to the market and made N200,000 and that is just a day’s sales on pigs, we are not talking about poultry, fishery and others,” he told Saturday Independent.
Omoteso advised that if the government is serious about eliminating unemployment in the country, the best approach is farming. “If government is serious in eliminating unemployment they should take the approach of farming. How many companies do we have in this country that would be able to accommodate our teeming graduates, he queried, adding: “Only farming can solve our unemployment crisis. Americans have got substitutes for oil but we are still lagging behind. It’s only agriculture that can sustain this country,” he enthused.
On how he started his farm, Omoteso, who was Director of Audit at Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, at the time Prof. Oke Bukola was the vice chancellor, stated that the former National Universities Commission (NUC) boss’ inquest in what he would do if his job is terminated today drove him into pig farming in 1996.
“I was in my office one day when the then VC of LASU came to my office and asked me what I would be doing for a living if my job with the university is terminated. At the time, I thought my job would be terminated because the VC and I were in some sort of rivalry because of the incessant inquisition of their expenditure. But I didn’t know that the question from him could turn to be a massive blessing and relief today.”
According to Omoteso, he left that day with a heavy heart but summed up courage to approach a certain Prof. Falade (now late) for assistant to start pig farming. “The Prof. Falade told me he does not have money but offered me 50 blocks to start and that is how I started with my personal savings,” he said.
The farmer, who started with just two piglets now have many piglets and adult pigs, from which he sells and makes money daily.
Omoteso, who is also the secretary of National Agbekoya Farmers Association, Lagos State Chapter and Chairman, Agbeloba Farmer Association-FADAMA Users Group, Lagos State, said pig farming is very profitable only if the farmers would take medication and sanitation of the environment seriously.
Medication and clean environment are critical in this business. To avoid casualty in your farm, pigs must be regularly vaccinated and their environment kept clean to avoid swine fever, which is a common disease that attack pigs in this part of the world. Feeding is also very important too because they (pigs) feed on cereals and spent grain from Nestle foods.
According to him, the major problem piggery has is swine fever. Swine fever started in this country in 1998 but I thank God because immediately the disease broke out, I looked at the Internet and I was able to get some ideas on the management of the disease that there is no medication or cure for it except you keep the place clean.
“After feeding them, I have some insecticides that I also spread after clean up and this help keep the environment free from diseases. Once the place is clean you are reassured that 90 percent swine fever would get away from your farm,” he said.
Sourcce-http://dailyindependentnig.com/
