Ilorin – Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara said on Tuesday that the state would generate 20, 000 jobs annually through agriculture aimed at eradicating poverty and creating wealth, especially among youths.
Ahmed stated this in Ilorin when participants of course 38 of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, Plateau visited him at the Government House.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that members of the course 38 were on local study tour of Kwara.
Ahmed said that the state government has identified agriculture as one of the keys of economic prosperity as it could improve the lives of the people tangibly.
According to the governor, about 50, 000 Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have been empowered in the state.
Ahmed added that another N2billion would be injected into the scheme in the next three years with priority on youths and women beneficiaries.
“Our determination is to generate a successor-generation of commercial farmers driven by an entrepreneurial mindset for job and wealth creation,” the governor explained.
Ahmed expressed concern that challenge of poverty has remained a dominant issue in Nigeria as the 2015 Human Development Index ranked Nigeria 152 out of 188 countries in 2014.
The leader of the NIPSS team, Brig.-Gen. Daniel Chinoko said the team, which is Group 6 of the course, was in the state to under study the state government’s poverty reduction programmes and policies.
Chinoko, who said the theme of course 38 is “strengthening institutional mechanism for poverty reduction and inclusive governance,” promised that the team’s report would be unbiased. (NAN)