Skill Acquisition: NGO trains, empowers 170 youths in Kwara South

By Mike Adeyemi
A Non-Governmental Organisation, Peculiar Foundation has trained and empowered about 170 youths in Kwara South senatorial district of Kwara State.
The chairman of the Foundation, Joseph Oyeyemi Babatunde stated this during a workshop for youths and women tagged, ‘Enhancing Productivity and Innovation in Agribusiness,’ held at Peculiar Foundation Headquarters, Imode/Iloffa, Kwara State.
According to him, ‘the mandate of the Foundation is to take as much as possible Kwara youths out of poverty.
“What informed this programme is the fact that I have been passionate about how to take as many youths as possible in Kwara out of poverty.
“The initial intention was to focus on youths and women because they are the majority when you talk about those at the bottom of pyramid.
“As a Foundation, our target is to touch lives of the less privileged.
I am so particular about agribusiness because that is where we have comparative advantage. That is where we have strength as a nation. Land is available with inputs and with improved technology, we can do better.
“What is discouraging the youths is the primitive and traditional way we have been farming, but with what we have learnt today, youths are made to know that agriculture is a business and they can feed their family.
“Peculiar Foundation is in synergy with almost all institutions in the public and private sector, but we are very privileged to have Bank of Industry supporting us.
“Initially we planned to trained about 150 people, but we are very close to about 170 people now, ” the ex- Bank of Industry boss stressed.
He, however, charged youths to embrace entrepreneurship as a way out of poverty and to be self sufficient.
Also speaking, the state Manager of Bank of Industry, Olusegun Adekogbe said the bank decided to partner the Foundation in order to reach out to people so as to increase their knowledge on how they can develop their businesses.
“We provide support in two ways; financially and we do business support. Beyond just giving money, we do business support, building capacity, reaching out to people to increase their knowledge so that they can develop their businesses,” he explained.