Uburu Amaka, non-profit body, trains 50 Ebonyi youths on agric tech, vows to reduce youth unemployment

Ben Eguzozie, in Port Harcourt

Uburu Amaka, a non-profit initiative by Uburu Amaka Humanitarian Organization, to engage youths, has trained some 50 young people from Uburu in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, on agricultural technology, with specialty in poultry, a move it says can increase yields by 300 per cent year-on-year. The training was done in collaboration with Globetrot Farm Nigeria Limited.

Nicholas Onu, the executive administrator of Uburu Amaka Humanitarian Organization, says, the training aims to get mainly the young people into improved agricultural methods, thereby reduce the unemployment rate not only in the community but also in the state. He said, the programme was a follow-up to the youth summit of 2 January this year.

“As an organization, it is our plan to focus more on building collaboration with equitable organizations to see how they can transfer skills and mentorship to the people of Uburu. We have started the journey of equipping our youths; we are still going to build other collaborations with other likeminded individuals and organizations,” Onu said at the end of the training in the community.

Ebonyi, a mainly agrarian state, with a 2016 estimated GDP of $2.17 billion and 23^rd on the Nigerian sub-nationals GDP ranking, occupies a landmass of 5,533 square km. The state has high unemployment and underemployment rates of 40.16 per cent and 21.98 per cent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on the fourth quarter 2020 (Q4 2020) Nigerian states stats.

The Uburu Amaka organizer promises continuation of the programme with another set of sponsors before two months for those who want to venture into fashion designing, shoe making, ICT and other areas.

Onu however, calls for government partnerships and grants to enable them get more people in their training programs, which he said, they could not do due to limited resources.

The Chief Executive Officer of Globetrot Farm Nigeria Limited, Akpa Bill Kenneth, who is the sponsor of the training program, said, the program is one of Globetrot Farm Nigeria Limited’s corporate social responsibilities, as well as service to his local government area. He says the program was aimed at making sure that young people were directed on the best possible ways to make a good living for themselves, instead of depending on the government for non-available jobs.

“Young people shy away from farming, because they feel it’s a dirty job and it’s tedious; but at the same time technology had made farming much easy; with the use of machines one can do the work with 300% returns on investment,” he said.

He advises young people to start doing something, no matter how small; and ask for help and mentorship when the need arises; as he pledges to support the youths.

Akpa Igwe Chijioke, moderator of Uburu Amaka Humanitarian Organization, says the essence was to identify the gap young people have, and try to fill it, because the youths lack strategic information and skills that could help transform their lives and grow in this modern world.

For the Commissioner of Finance, Ebonyi State, Orlando Nwaeze and his counterpart for Business Development, Steven Odo commended Uburu Amaka Humanitarian Organization for its initiative in engaging the youth. They separately promised to ensure that the youths were funded with the opportunity at the state level.