A pan Yoruba socio-cultural and political organization, Egbe Omo Yoruba (Egbe), has commended Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu over his programme on agriculture saying, it is a right step towards sufficient food production for the people.
National Convener of the group, Comrade Adeosun Adekunle, in a statement in Lagos said, Sanwo-Olu has commendably keyed into the National Campaign for return to the farm, saying, the step would further boost the fortunes of the farmer through the project.
According to Adekunle, the agricultural value chains would lead to the empowerment of hundreds of farmers across the state with inputs to either kick-start or improve their businesses, describing the initiative as an avenue to increase the volume of production and move the state further in its quest for food security.
The scheme, according Egbe boss, would also assist in generating more Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), accruable to the state as well as helping to attain sufficient rice production, saying, “we learnt reliably that, the Imota Rice Mill has the capacity to produce 650 bags of 50kg per hour and has two lines to produce 16 metric tonnes each.”
In addition to this, Egbe reasoned that the scheme would also serve as a veritable means of providing jobs or the teeming population of the unemployed youth of the state, enthusing that, “with that, jobs would be available for several idle hands and thus reduce the rate of crime that idle hands can engage in.
Egbe also gave the governor a pass mark over his efforts towards human development for financial and economic empowerment of the state’s citizens through the training of 4, 885 people that graduated from the 17 Skill Acquisition Centres across the state, saying, “the initiative is a welcome development and commendable initiative.”
According to Adekunle, acquiring skills in several gainful trades would increase the number of micro, small and medium entrepreneurs in the state and by extension improve the socio-economic status of the beneficiaries.
The beneficiaries of such training, Egbe continued, would be financially sufficient, economically independent and emotionally stable to be able to contribute their modest quotas to the growth of the state economy and its welfare.
The group therefore enjoined the people of the state to double their support for Sanwo-Olu’s administration, saying, the governor and his patriotic team mean well for the state which has started manifesting just within 200 days in office.
