How Ekiti Received President Tinubu’s Support In Agriculture

By Ayodele Oni

President Bola Tinubu has offered support to States to encourage citizens to embark on agriculture as part of strategy to cushion the effect of economic hardship.

Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji disclosed this at the weekend while inspecting the Bring Youth Back into Agriculture Project farms in some parts of the state.

The Governor told some of the participants that “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 want to get involved in agriculture. He gave us that support and I promised myself that when we get that resources, we will invest it in agriculture, so, from that resources, we should be able to get a bus for each group.”

Oyebanji restated his administration’s commitment to food security for residents of the state through various collaboration with investors in agribusiness and young farmers, saying his target for 2025 is to record significant increase in production in the sector to feed the people.

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, in an effort 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, boost capacity of farmers and create a market for farm produce as part of efforts to enhance food production and tackle food insecurity.

He expressed  appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing 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.

“I’m superbly excited on the outcome of agriculture strategy, 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, 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 bring back our youths to agric where government cleared land for them free of charge, subsidized inputs by fifty percent.

“I am just going round today to see the outcome of this efforts 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 with any states in the federation, but as a government, we need to provide the platform for people to exhibit their potentials and this is what we have done.

“Next year 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.”