By Muftau Ogunyemi
Dr Akinyemi Fadiyile, Provost, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, has charged youths to embrace modern agricultural practices to tackle food insecurity in the country.
Fadiyile made the call on Saturday at the school premises during the maiden quiz competition organised by the college’s Kites Press Club.
The provost was represented at the event by Dr Abimbola Ogunyinka, Head of Agricultural Technology.
According to him, time has come for the individual, states and, especially the youth, to rise up and ensure people have access to quality food round the clock for the betterment of the nation.
He said if the youth could engage more in farming production, the country would no more rely on other countries for its daily bread.
“This is because a nation without food and where people are not well fed, the tendency is to revolt as a nation,” he said.
Fadiyile said that it had become imperative for the youth to tap into the nation’s vast area of land with a view to contributing to the value chain process “so that food could be available at appropriate time in the country.
The provost said that the college had been in the forefront in the area of food production, processing and marketing in various areas.
He, therefore, called on students to utilise the knowledge acquired from the college to help make the country better.
“I am calling on our youths to be committed, focused and look into what they can do to help the nation to develop and produce more than enough for the citizenry because the nation’s development lies in the hands of the youth.
“So, the youth, as potential leaders of tomorrow, need to help us in the area of policy formulations and good agricultural practices so that our nation can boast of agricultural development and progress.
“Statistics show that only about three per cent of the Israelites are engaged in agriculture, and they produce for both local consumption and export, while more than 80 per cent of Nigerians are engaged in backyard and fulltime farming, and we are still complaining.
“I will enjoin us that no matter which department we are, we should look at what we can do toward self reliance so that we can help the nation in the area of food production,” he said.
Dr Joshua Ayantayo, Coordinator of Kites Press Club, said that the idea of the quiz competition was to revive reading culture among the students.
Ayantayo, who teaches in the General Study Department as English Language and Communication lecturer, called on the older generation to impart reading culture on the younger ones as it was done during their time in schools.
“Our mission is to revive the ethics and academic culture that we were introduced to during our own time which really helped us.
“There is this popular slogan among students nowadays that education is a scam. This is because majority of them do not understand what education really means.
“So, we are appealing to our youths to be more involved in academic gatherings than any other because the development of any nation is determined by the level of education of its citizens, and as reading culture is going into extinction, it is dangerous,” Ayantayo said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the five departments, mainly Agricultural Extension and Management; Animal Health and Production Technology; Horticulture and Landscaping Technology; and Pasture and Range Management, participated in the competition.
Mr Adebisi Oluwaseun and Ebuka Chris, who represented the Department of Animal Health and Production Technology who came first in the competition, appreciated the club for organising the quiz, saying it would help students to read more and become versatile in their studies.
The duo charged youths, especially students, to shun watching programmes that would not add to their academic on their mobile phones.
They stressed the need for students not to limit their researches to the departmental courses alone.
“Youths of nowadays are using the mobile phones for irrelevant things on social media which will not add meaningful things to their life.
“With this type of quiz competition, youths will be compelled to use their mobile phones for beneficial researches for them to aquire more knowledge,” the duo said. (NAN)