According to a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) survey it showed that many youths, who before now travelled to the southern part of the country in search of menial jobs during the dry season, were now engaged in dry season farming in Bauchi, thereby having a stable means of livelihood.
A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) who visited some of the farm sites on penultimate Friday observed that the programme had provided job opportunities for youths in the state.
Malam Yau Abdullahi, the Chairman, Zingiwa Rice Farmers Association in Gamawa Local Government Area, told NAN that the Zingiwa rice cluster had engaged about 50 youths, doing various kinds of job.
Abdullahi said that the youths were engaged in farm clearing, watering, transplanting and weeding and were being paid between N700 and N1,000 daily, depending on the kind of job.
Malam Abdulahi Usman, the Chairman of the local government’s branch of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), also said that so far, more than 1,000 jobs had been created in the area.
“One hundred and thirty youths are working in my farm alone on a daily pay of between N700 and N800 each, where I am cultivating about 50 hectares of rice. Sixteen others are employed as permanent staff,’’ Usman said..
In a separate interview, Malam Auwalu Saidu, the Chairman of RIFAN in Itas-Gadau local government area, said that another set of 30 youths were engaged, 14 of them from Jigawa State.
Some of the youths who spoke with NAN commended the Federal Government for initiating the programme, saying: “the programme has given us something to do.’’
Yau Sule, a labourer at Zingiwa cluster, said he made between N700 to N1,000 daily, doing various kinds of jobs.
Sule said that during the dry season, most of the youths of the area usually travelled to other states, sometimes as far as the southern part of the country, in search of menial jobs.
“But this year, many of us are gainfully engaged in rice farms making money, as many of us did not have to travel anywhere.
“We have no reason to, since what usually takes us away from our homes is now available at our door step,’’ he said.
The story is the same for Salisu Barde, who said he usually travelled ed to Port Harcourt or Ibadan during dry season in search of jobs.
“With this development, I have no reason to go anywhere. Rice farming has filled in the gap. Now we are economically engaged during the rainy season as well as the dry season.
“My dream is that someday, I will get my own permanent space to also participate in the dry season farming,’’ Barde said.
Another beneficiary of the initiative, Malam Umaru Nahabu, a wash-bore maker in Rimi, Alkaleri local government area, said that the dry season rice farming had made wash- bore making business very lucrative.
NAN reports that a wash-bore is a locally made borehole produced manually through digging of the soil with a sharp object to a certain depth that produces water for irrigation farming.
“I charge N10, 000 per washbore and so far, I have drilled 30 of them in Rimi, making N300,000 in just a month, and there is still, a heavy demand for my service.
“Dry season rice farming has really given me the needed opportunity to put my skills to proper use and make money. I really commend the Federal Government for the initiative,’’ Nahabu said.
... Making SENSE of digital revolution!
No comments:
Post a Comment