Training Workshop

There will be a Training on FIsh Farming, Poultry and Piggery on Tuesday 26th March, 2019 at Eriwe Farm Hall, Eriwe Farm by 10am. Training fee N10,000. Indicate interest by registering at the Secretariat before Friday 22nd March, 2019.  For more enquiries call 08077669794

Training Programme

Would you like to venture into Profitable Agricultural Enterprises such as: Catfish Production, Piggery and Poultry Farming?
Then wait no more!
Ijebu Development Initiative on Poverty Reduction (IDIPR) presents a one day Training on Catfish Production, Piggery and Poultry Farming, Cocoa, Rubber and Plantain Plantation.
The After training benefits include: Provision of Land for farming at the prestigious Eriwe Farm Village, Access to credit and loan facilities, secured environment for Agricultural Practice amongst many others.
Interested participants are to visit the IDIPR Secretariat at the Awujale Palace to register.

Training Fee: N10,000!

WANT Ijebu Development Initiative on Poverty Reduction ASSISTANCE?

To become an IDIPR Stakeholder/Beneficiary the followings are the requirements.
1. Participate in IDIPR training workshop in any chosen     enterprise
2. Must be ready to join Cooperative Group under IDIPR
3. Payment for Land Allocation
4. Readiness to obey the farm rules and regulations
5. Readiness to ensure transparency, accountability and togetherness 

Ogun Grants N60m to IDIPR

The Ogun State Government under the leadership of Senator Ibikunle Amosun has granted a loan of N60million to the Initiative alongside other agricultural cooperative groups across the state. The Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme loan was purposely rolled out by the Government toward achieving its mandate to explore the agricultural potential of the State for the creation of employments, foods sufficiency, generate income and reduce poverty among the people.
Ogun State Government found the Initiative worthy, having observed its potential and excellent agricultural activities. The government was overwhelmed by the enormous number of earthen ponds stocked with fishes; poultry and piggery pens, man-power resources and self-sufficient Feedmill available on the farm village which prompted the government to release the 3rd trench of N60 million on 18months payback period

ERIWE LEADS THE WORLD IN FARM VILLAGES

The Federal Government has concurred through its minister of state for Agriculture and Rural
Development Senator Heineken Lokpobiri that the Ijebu Ode Fish Farm Village of the IDIPR is the leading assemblage of fish farmers in the world also describing the village as “Agricultural Tourism Centre of Africa”.
The Minister was welcoming a delegation of the Initiative led by the Chairman Professor Kamil Olanipekun Alausa in his office in Abuja during which he had broad briefing on the activities and achievements of the Initiative.
Others who accompanied the IDIPR Board Chairman to the minister were Prof. Abeke Adesanya (Secretary), Mr. Marcus Adeniyi (General Manager) Mr. Sunday Izomo President Farmers Cooperative Union (FCU) and Alhaja Fausat Abdulahi, FCU Treasurer.
The warm reception accorded the delegation by the Minister and his high-level technocrats was highly motivating.
Mr. Lokpobiri showered encomiums on the Initiative for its contribution to poverty reduction and fish production in the country.
He specifically declared the IDIPR Eriwe Fish Farm Village as a Model, for other States and Communities to follow. The Honourable Minister endorsed the earlier assertion of the FAO that the Eriwe Farm Village is the leading assembly of fish farmers in the world as an Agricultural Tourist Centre as well as the Pride of Africa.
Senator Heinehen Lokpobiri then promised the following:
Commissioning of the FMARD Assisted Feedmill at the Eriwe Farm Village
Provision of more than 20 Fish Smoking Kilns
Agreement to provide two (2) Tractors under the FMARD Tractorisation Scheme
Construction/Maintenance of IDIPR Farm Road Networks
Grants towards IDIPR Poverty Reduction Programme
At the end of the presentation, the Initiative untied their wares and presented neatly packed cartons of dried fish to the Minister of State, Directors, Staff of the Ministry and Journalists present at the occasion. The Initiative ensured that the Ijebu fish found its way into several homes in Abuja; including that of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, even in his absence.

MORE IJEBU YOUTHS EMBRACE AGRIC

Ijebu Development Initiative on Poverty Reduction is further energising its Youth Empowerment Committee (YEC) to further fulfil its mandate of identifying skills that will eventually benefit them in the scheme of things. Such programmes amongst others include Career Talks, Skill Acquisition, Counselling, Linkages and Browsing.

To this end a three-man panel consisting of Dr. Bola Aromiwura as Chairman, Mr Marcus Adeniyi, (IDIPR GM) AND Mr. Alausa Olanrewaju (Admin Officer) as members, was given the assignment to come up with a Action Plan of Youth Development Programmes.

Meanwhile a Youth Consultative Forum attended by 27 Youths made up of graduates, undergraduates, artisans, secondary school leaves and students from the six Ijebu area of Ogun State, consisting of Ijebu-Ode, Oke-Ako, Ago Iwoye, Ilodo, Ilusin and Odogbolu recently concluded that a Need Assessment Programme was needed to guide the Youths in shaping their future endeavours.

With the assistance of Mrs Mojisola Akinsanya, Executive Director, Women for Peace and Gender Initiative (WOPEGEE) it was possible to identify the interest of the various Youths in subjects such as leadership Skills, Facilitation Skill, Conflict Management Skills, Entrepreneurship Skills, Interpersonal  Skills, Resource Mobilisation, Basic Business Accounting Skills. Other areas include Marketing,  Business Expansion, Branding, Conducting Business in English Language, Preparation of Curriculum Vitae, Time Management, Networking with Employers/business partners, internally Generated Revenue and the use of Microsoft Packages.

The survey showed that 97.7 percent of the Youths showed interest in Agriculture, ICT, Craftsmanship and business ventures.

Overall the survey concluded as follow that:

1. Majority of the Youths in the study area are unemployed and are willing to undertake employment opportunities in agriculture, ICT, craftsmanship and business ventures.
2. Most of the youths were well educated and had the required skills needed towork on contracts and/grow their own businesses.
3. Almost half of the youths preferred agriculture as a chosen profession followed by ICT. Livestock is also the subsector that highest proportion of the youths preferred in agriculture followed by fishery and food crop production subsectors.
4. It could also be concluded that the youths would venture into agriculture related enterprises because they are good sources of income, in their desire to be self-employed and high unemployment rate among, other reasons.
5. Economic and infrastructural factors were identified as the most important constraints to youth involvement in agriculture.
6. It could also be concluded that connection between business and passion, need to be one’s boss and earn more money were among the motivators for youths’ involvement in ICT, craftsmanship and business ventures in the study area.

Recommendations Based on the Findings of the Need Assessment Survey

1. Government and non-governmental agencies should provide the youths with employment opportunities that match their skills and educational qualifications. This calls for development agencies especially those interested in youth development within the study area to harness available local resources.
2. Investment in agriculture and ICT ventures should be prioritized as programmes for the youths in the study area.
3. Needed resources such as capital and land should also be provided to the youths. In a bid to provide the needed resources, government and NGOs should focus on provision of production input at subsidized rates, access to credit facilities, agricultural insurance schemes, production of information, transportation, storage and processing facilities.
4. Youths should also be sensitized and trained in craftsmanship. Also, youths should be encouraged to take up a combination of income generating activities.
5. Aside from providing finances for the youths, agricultural training, extension services and linkages, modern equipment and farm settlements should be provided for youths that are interested in agriculture related ventures.

WHY ARE IJEBU YOUTHS MISSING IN ACTION?

A BITTER TRUTH: A WORD IS ENOUGH FOR THE WISE.

What Next for "the youth of Ijebuland?”

Despite the pitiful state of unemployment in Nigeria, ironically, the nation is still rated as the third destination of investors and one of the fastest growing economy in the world.

Ijebuland is a golden land of numerous opportunities for those who are resourceful, ingenious, creative, innovative, inventive, ground-breaking, enterprising, hard-working, focused, visionary and most significantly, disciplined.

Consequently, as a concerned Ijebu man, I want to question the role(s) of Ijebu youths in the current fight against unemployment, starvation and poverty in Ijebuland.

This question was necessitated by my discovery through indirect observations that Yoruba youths are the most laziest, perfidious and egoistic in Nigeria as at today. I discovered that the pride of an average Yoruba youth has over-shadowed his intellectual judiciousness, level-headedness and sagacity.

Today, among ten Nigerians submitting their resume in multi-national corporations, eight would be Yoruba. My generations in the western Nigeria, Ijebuland are too lazy to tap from the abundant opportunities that for instance litter the streets of Ijebuland for primitive accumulation of wealth.

Today, the string and button of Ijebuland, the Nigeria’s indisputable land of opportunities has been tactically taken over from the Ijebus. I was shocked at the last AGM of IDIPR 2015, that an Igbo lady won an award that would have been won by an Ijebu!

The Igbos and the Northerners have indirectly taken over the control of Ijebuland economy. The lucrative businesses has been hijacked from the Ijebus in Ijebuland.

Today, the major work of average Ijebu youths on the streets of Ijebuland is to collect royalty, due and charges from the Hausas and Igbo using their motorcycles to make cool cash from their land.

A new development in Ijebuland is the youth now at various intersections harassing hardworking people transacting their legal businesses in the name of collecting charges and dues for local government. I also discovered that the majority of the few Ijebu youth riding commercial motorcycles are locally trained automobile engineers that have abandoned their workshops.

Let me also assert unequivocally that Igbo youths are now becoming more prosperous in the entertainment industry than the Yoruba youths.
Today, Yoruba hardly tune their DSTV to the Yoruba movie channel of the satellite television, rather, they watch the other movie channel that show English movies starred by Actors and Actresses of Igbo extraction. Why? Because most Yoruba movies are short of creativity. I can also articulate that 85% of the CEOs and Executive Directors of Commercial Banks operating in Nigeria today are Igbo and Hausas under the age of 50. They are very super and talented in boardroom politics unlike their Yoruba counterparts and they assist each other with an amazing ease.

Educationally, the Yoruba are no longer in the first three. According to the National Universities Commission (NUC), Anambra, Imo and Enugu have the highest number of professors and Doctorate Degree Holders in Nigeria. Ekiti and Ondo States that used to top the list have been demoted to number four and six respectively. The 2014 Reports of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) revealed that the Yoruba have been upturned by the Easterners in terms of academic performance. Ekiti, a state known as fountain of knowledge was number 34 in 2013.

The Yoruba are also missing in the sports sector. The Golden Eaglet, Flying Eagles, Super Eagles, Flamingoes, Falconets, Super Falcons, D’Tigers and other Nigeria National Teams are dominated by the Igbo and Hausas. The team that won the African Cup of Nations for Nigeria in 2013 was tagged Biafran National Team by some Columnists and Social Commentators including myself.

If I may ask, can a young man at 35 with nothing attractive in his resume manage a lucrative conglomerate?

Besides, as Ijebu youths must we be employed by conglomerates? Can’t we resourcefully, artistically and imaginatively employ ourselves? The fact is government cannot provide jobs for all. Folorunsho Alakija started as a Fashion Designer, but today, she’s the richest black woman on the surface of earth. My fellow Yoruba youths and Ijebu youths why are we too proud and lazy to ruggedly and smartly act like our brothers and sisters in the east and the north? Why do we always bringing ourselves down? Why are Yoruba youths missing in action especially the Ijebu youths?

What is the way out?
Think about this!
To your success,
Engr. Oladipupo Iyowun
@oladipupoiyowun