The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) has charged Jigawa government to revive the Young Farmers’ Clubs in schools to sensitive youths on the benefits of agriculture.
The local NUT Chairman, Alhaji Usman Ya’u said that the gesture was to encourage youths to see the commercial opportunities in agriculture from younger age.
Ya’u added that it was also to inculcate the culture of farming in youths so as to tackle the level of unemployment and reduce urban-rural migration, among others. He said that it would also boost food production and guarantee food security in the state.
According to him, reviving the young farmers clubs in schools will go a long way to reduce the level of dependency on white-collar jobs by youths after graduation.
He emphasised that the gesture would also reduce restiveness among the youths through the provision of functional skills. He noted that white-collar jobs were no longer available, therefore, urged youths to embrace agriculture for self-reliance.
“The era of white-collar jobs is gone and it is our duty to re-create the blue collar-job, which entails manual activities in the farms.
If we train our children in agriculture during their school days that means we have trained them to grow with it just like any other discipline they received in school,” he said.
He urged the youths to take advantage of the state government commitment to develop agriculture as a matter of priority.