By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The training of 774 agricultural extension officers by the Federal Government under the N-Power job scheme has been completed.
The exercise, tagged Agro Master Trainers, was part of the Federal Government’s Agricultural Development Plan being executed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The beneficiaries were trained in the use of modern technologies in delivering extension services in the agricultural sector.
Director-General of the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, Prof Mohammed Othman, disclosed that the trainees were drawn from all the local government areas in the country.
They will work as master trainers for the 30,000 youths engaged under the N-Power Agro Programme.
“The agricultural sector is one of the critical sectors in the first phase of the N-Power programme because it is capable of employing more than half of the nation’s unemployed graduates in the areas of farming, livestock and fisheries, diary production and advisory services delivery.
“Many of the participants are optimistic that the N-Power programme will not only create employment opportunities, but also prepare Nigeria for international outsourcing where young Nigerians can export their products and attract foreign investments that will eventually sustain the economy.
“This is because the training was not only about building the capacity of unemployed graduates for employment as agricultural extension support service providers, but also about empowering senior extension personnel with new effective extension methodologies to enable them to train 100,000 unemployed graduates for agricultural extension service delivery,” Prof Othman said.
