By Chinyere Anyanwu
The National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and President of Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), Kabir Ibrahim, has called on Nigerian youths to wake up to the responsibility of building a sustainable and prosperous future for the country.
Ibrahim made the call in a congratulatory message to the youths during this year’s International Youth Day (IYD) celebration. The IYD holds August 12 every year.
The AFAN/NABG president said Nigeria needs the collective action of its teeming youths to become economically sustainable, adding that the future of the country depends on their action or inaction.
Ibrahim, who called on President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency on youth unemployment, urged the government to “leverage the invaluable youth resource in every Nigerian household to make Nigeria great.”
He said: “The future of Nigeria is in the hands of our youth and the sooner leadership at all levels recognise that, the faster will we attain sustainable prosperity.
“All we need to do is to support the youth to create sustainable inclusive businesses through the evolution of small business administration (SBA) bureau with offices in the 774 LGAs.
“The SBA should provide business plans at no cost to participating youths and also facilitate access to credit from financial institutions amenable to financial inclusion.
“I firmly believe that youth-driven AgriTech projects, if given appropriate impetus to grow, will quickly take centre stage in the SBA intervention for Nigeria to attain sustainable food security,” he said.
He emphasised the need for the Nigerian youths to become innovative, tech-savvy as well as AI compliant in order to be equipped for impactful contribution to the country’s sustainable economic growth.
