With $1.2 million approval for the take off of the Start Them Early Programme in six selected secondary schools in the six zones of the state, the Oyo State Government said the youths are being empowered to invest in agric business.
The initiative is said to be targeted at expanding the economy of the state.
The Commissioner for Finance in the state, Akinola Ojo, made the disclosure after the 22nd executive council meeting presided over by the governor at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan on Tuesday.
According to him, six schools would be upgraded by the state government to kickstart the STEP Agribusiness Initiative in concert with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in a bid to engage more students in Oyo State in agribusiness.
He said, “One of the projects that was approved was the Start Them Early Programme in Agribusiness, in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Oyo State.
“The whole essence of the programme is to put in place a co-operation and overall support of the private sector in the area of IITA corps and comparative advantage to partner on the agribusiness education and on youth work in agriculture in driving the STEP project.
“It is also aimed at engaging in consultative meetings and personnel visits between both IITA and the Oyo State Government.
“The programme is for a total cost of $1.2million and what they are going to do is to put together, in the six geopolitical zones, schools that will be used in the pilot programme. They are going to overhaul six schools in the three geopolitical zones in Oyo State at a cost of $1.2million.
“One of the cardinal points of this administration is an expanded economy and our catalyst for expansion is agribusiness. As we all know, the youths are our focus because they are the future of Oyo State.
“This programme will help to encourage and bring the youths on board early enough to start getting them involved in the agricultural value chain and to ensure that there is a robust framework to encourage them.
This initiative is one of the cutting edge initiatives within the agribusiness space and the state is ready to partner with IITA to push it forward.”
