My faith in One9ja, a Betta9ja & the Great Naija Youth remains Strong & Resolute. My real-life experiences and observations dispel the hopes of Doom Mongers & those who Seek to Scatta9ja.
Their hopes & nightmares will never come to pass. I’m on ground, not on social media.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of being taken on a guided tour around Soilfree Labs in Awowo Village just 20 minutes after Obada came from Abeokuta in Ogun State.
When you alight from your cab at Awowo village, there are branded Keke Na Pep tricycles that will take you to the farm for N500 per person.
The road to the farm is tarred to till you get on to a reasonably graded dirt road up to the farm gate.
There are a number of large commercial farms on the way, including Obasanjo Farms in Awowo.
On entry into the farm CCTV cameras & armed security at the reception, you are given a tag, and then you will be introduced to your hosting team, who will take you around.
The farm is well laid out and enjoys virtually 24-hour electricity from a combination of solar & power from the National Grid. There is also CCTV & radio walkie-talkie security. You are in safe hands
Our tour guides Basset from Akwa Ibom & Victory from Bayelsa took us on a tour of the facility, including admin, Conference rooms, Lecture rooms, Staff quarters, Students dorms, Market place, store rooms, processing centre, cold rooms, the various green houses & auditoriums, social facilities, laundry, Church & mosque, etc.
The farm grows a variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, bell peppers, aljerpino peppers, flute pumpkin, ugu, cucumbers, onions, lettuce, & a variety of leafy herbs. There were well over 200 or more different green houses spread over Hectares and many more cultivated plants in the open.
All the green houses grow plants that do not use soil but grow on a mix of rice husk & cow pea mulch. They are grown in plastic moulds on weed mats. They are watered by a drip system of pipes that gives each plant the precise amount of water. The pipes are fed by raised reservoirs that feed each green house.
Soilfree Farm is an agricultural institute of sorts that takes in up to 1,000 students in each course called cohorts who attend a 3-month free course with accommodation and are also paid a stipend of N40k each for the duration of their course.
They are taught & actually build & operate their own green houses from scratch and are given additional courses to assist them in starting their own businesses, which are registered at CAC. They are offered legal and accounting services and advice about starting their own farming enterprise.
We meet many students and past students who have carried on, on site, managing & expanding their businesses. They have the added advantage that Soilfree Labs purchases all their produce at competitive market rates. Soil-free lab products are sold in many cities, including Lagos & Abuja.
I want to give a specific mention to the proprietor, Mr. Samson Ogbole from Edo State, who deserves much commendation; he is a great Nigerian we should all be proud of. He has managed to harness resources and partnerships from many sponsors to give our youth an opportunity to embrace agriculture, with over 13,700 students trained in less than 2 years.
The place is full of young Nigerians in their 20’s & many graduates learning agriculture and finding opportunities for themselves in the agricultural chain, from production to services to marketing, logistics, technical, & mechanical. It was great to see firsthand.
These revelations show our youth are not lazy and are only to happy to embrace agriculture. Soilfree Lab Motto: If hunger is not a crime, food production shouldn’t be seasonal.
The other very refreshing thing I found is that students come from all over Nigeria, mostly ladies, working together in teams to form partnerships & companies to achieve a singular aim of a successful harvest. The fruits of this harvest for Naija are an ever closer union.
This is another good news story from my trip to Naija, quite different from the negativity, scaremongering, and doom & gloom being projected by many on social media by those who delight in spreading only negative news on Nigeria.
It’s a shame many so-called independent news outlets on TV, etc. join in the same peddling of bad news when there are a lot of positive things happening on the ground. I de on ground. Up Naija
If you know anyone who is between the ages of 18 and 29 who is interested in joining the 3-month Work, Earn, Learn Enterprise for Youth in Agriculture program sponsored by the Mastercard Foundation, please forward the link below. What’s your view? Please share.
Femi Oke Betta9ja
