Jigawa State Government has reiterated its commitment to youth empowerment across the state.
Governor Umar Namadi stated this during the graduation ceremony of over 400 youths trained in hybrid date production and processing, held in Dutse, the state capital.
He explained that the initiative would create employment opportunities and boost date palm farming in the state.
Malam Umar Namadi said, the program aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which is in line with his 12-Point agenda in jigawa state.
Namadi therefore called on the beneficiaries to commit to their new skills in order to achieve the set objectives.
Also speaking, the state Coordinator of the Nigeria Institute for Oil-palm Research NIFOR, Alhaji Abdulhamid Mohammed Hamza, pointed our that the seedlings used for the training are hybrid.
According to him, the seedlings can produce over 70 kilos for a start and can generate 7 million naira monthly if well taken care of.
“Jigawa state soil has the natural gift of producing date fruits twice a year, whereas many countries only produce once annually”.
Alhaji Abdulhamid Mohammed Hamza further explained that the youths were not only trained on date production, rather they were trained on the whole date palm value chain for better productivity.
He noted that the efforts of the state government in providing job opportunities through farming, can curtail Japan syndrome amongst Jigawa youths.
Abdulhamid expressed readiness of the Institute in collaborating with all stakeholders to boost date production in the state.
In his remarks, Chairman of the project committee, Alhaji Mustapha Makama, expressed delight for the success of the first batch of the project
According to him, the commitment Governor Namadi in boosting agriculture and youths empowerment, gave birth to a committee saddled with the project task.
He said, about 10,000 hybrid seedlings have been secured for the project and it anticipated that it beneficial in the next 100 years and beyond.
“Gov. Namadi has ordered that free seedlings should be planted, free watering materials and free mentorship be offered to the trained youths,” he said.
He however, revealed that more batches of the training are well under way, with more than 2,000 youths expected to benefit.
In his remarks,the Director General of the state Institute of Research, Dr Sulaiman Rufai, commended the Namadi’s administration for the idea and setting up the commitee to that effect.
He added that, the state government has offered over 1,040 hectares of land and targets training of over 2,000 youths into the project.
He commended the resilience of the youths during the in-house training.
He also urged them to commit more and expect a close monitoring as they embark to the farms.
Some of the beneficiaries said, they all
learnt that date palm can be processed into four varieties of Juice, Syrup, Powder and the seeds can produce a coffee.
Over 400 unemployed youth graduated on hybrid date production and processing, to sustain a means of livelihood and reduce unemployment burden in the state.
COV/USMAN MZ
