Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II has disclosed plans to partner with the Federal Government to empower about 200,000 youths in his domain.
The monarch who spoke to State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said the return-to-farm initiative would be implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
According to him, the prospects of the programme were very bright because he was able to gather the 200,000 youths within 30 days.
He said his meeting with the President was about peace and progress of the nation which he said both Buhari and himself stood for.
“What is also key is youth empowerment. That is the main purpose of this meeting,” Oba Ogunwusi stated.
“I am currently working with the Minister of Agriculture. We have been able to assemble over 200,000 youths within a space of 30 days.
“It is unbelievable. We are encouraging them to go back to the farm.
“Something happened in Nigeria that we did not notice. Last year October, crude oil price started going down astronomically but cocoa price went up over 100 percent and nobody noticed it.
“Nigeria in the early 1930s and 1940s was the largest exporter of cocoa in the world and the farmlands are still there.
“So what we have been able to do now is that there is another positive indicator for the nation’s economy.
“We have been able to assemble youths and we are giving them five acres per youth so that they will go back to the farm.
“The Federal Government is supporting us very well. So it is going to be a model that will be replicated in all parts of the country.
“As a royal father, I am also encouraging the youth not to look for fast ways of making money, let us go back to the basis,” the monarch stated.
