FORMER president, Chief Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has warned that Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder, with the high level of graduate unemployment and poverty in the country.
Speaking as a guest lecturer at the 16th annual lecture of the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), in Ilorin, on Thursday, the former president said all tiers of government in the country should address the issue, in partnership with private sector.
“The number of Nigerian universities is growing to about 150 now, we have a problem. The graduates coming out of the universities do not have hope of getting employment. This means we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
“An idle hand is the devil’s workshop. But I also think that a hopeless idle hand is tinder box,” he said.
Obasanjo, who incidentally was the first guest lecturer of the institute, 30 years ago, said “agriculture is a key component of African economies,” lamenting that development of agriculture and its ability to become the lifeline of Nigeria economy were threatened by the low capacity of agribusiness owners to manage their enterprises on a sustainable basis.
He, therefore, said agribusiness operators should begin to develop interest in acquiring management skills for their businesses.
“When you consider that Nigeria has over 80 million hectares of arable land, accounting for about 23 per cent of arable land across all of West Africa, the opportunities for growth are limitless,” he said.
Also speakimg at the event, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said agriculture was no longer a way of life, but a business, adding that the present government in the country was determined to achieve greater success in agricultural business.
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