Abuja – Mr John-Kennedy Opara, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) says it is working closely with the Israeli government on a skills acquisition programme for Nigerian youths.
Opara said this on Thursday in Abuja while answering questions at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum.
He said that the commission launched the skill acquisition programme during the maiden youth pilgrimage to Israel in 2015.
He added that the Institute for Transformation, Nigeria, headed by Prof. Vincent Anibogwu is also involved in training programme.
“When we launched this scheme, we started to train the youths and we have a relationship or partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture in Israel and institute of Transformation.
“So they agreed with us that aside the pilgrimage programme, they can also train them in the area of skill acquisition.
“This will help them to acquire some basic knowledge and skills, when they come back to Nigeria; they set up their own agricultural businesses.
“Some of them can go into the area of self-employed agriculture; they employ themselves and they employ other people.’’
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According to him, more than 200 of the trained youths came together as professionals to Israel and now they have started their own agricultural projects.
Opara assured Nigerians that at the end of the year, the commission would set up three Kibbutz in the country.
The kibbutz (Hebrew word for “communal settlement”) system is a unique rural community, a society dedicated to mutual aid and social justice.
It is a socioeconomic system based on the principle of joint ownership of property, equality and cooperation of production, consumption and education, and the fulfilment of the idea “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”.
The executive secretary said that products of the Kibbutz system could work jointly as exporters of various agric produce.
“So we are trying to set up such Kibbutz in Nigeria, when we finish training them, they can come together and say, you are into fishery, I am into snail production, and that one is into producing tomatoes.
“We come together and we produce our products and then export jointly.
“In that way the cost of labour is reduced but we are creating employment that will help Mr President in what he is doing already.’’