Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has reiterated his administration’s commitment to transforming the state into the nation’s food basket and leverage agriculture as a tool for wealth creation.
The governor made this commitment during a visit to agricultural farms in the northern senatorial district on Saturday.
Oyebanji emphasized that his government’s 2025 budget would prioritize agriculture to ensure food sufficiency and create jobs for young people. He highlighted the successful implementation of the “Bring Youth Back into Agriculture” project, which has already yielded positive results.
“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 bringing back our youths to agriculture where the government cleared land for them free of charge, subsidized inputs by fifty percent. I am just going round today to see the outcome of these efforts and I am happy that it has turned round this way.”
He further noted that Ekiti youths are not lazy but productive, capable of working hard, and all they need is a platform. He emphasized that Ekiti has the potential to compete with any state in the federation, and as a government, they must provide opportunities for people to showcase their abilities, which is exactly what they 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
The governor expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing the necessary support for Ekiti’s agricultural development. He assured that his administration would continue to create economic opportunities for youths and position them as employers of labor,” he added.
During his visit to Oke Ako Ekiti, the governor commended the youths for their dedication to the agricultural project and assured them of government’s support. He pledged to rehabilitate the road from Ayedun to Oke Ako and provide electricity to the town.
At the palace of the Regent of Oke Ako, the governor promised to compensate those whose farms were acquired within two weeks. He urged the community members to cooperate with the investors and youths involved in the agricultural project, assuring them that no one had received any money from the government on their behalf.
In Iyemero Ekiti and Gede, the governor assured the people of his administration’s commitment to providing road infrastructure to enhance the movement of agricultural produce. He also pledged to provide irrigation facilities and other necessary support to farmers.
The youths at the various farm sites presented their demands to the governor, which included the provision of buses, free inputs, agricultural loans, accommodation, and road rehabilitation.