Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa says investing in agriculture will create sustainable economy for the people, urging the teeming youth to venture into farming business.
Dickson, who made the call while speaking to newsmen in his farm at Toru-orua, Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa on Wednesday.
He described farming as profitable business that could make one famous.
He noted that he would continually pick on agriculture as business, especially on aquaculture after his tenure as Governor of Bayelsa come February 14, 2020.
“When my tenure as governor rounds off I will go into full time farming; we must understand the importance of investing in agriculture.
“One, is to be able to provide food and create jobs. We must imbibe the spirit, because for me, agriculture is paramount and is about creating sustainable economy.
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“Seriake Dickson’s Farm has been in existence since 2002. I started farming in 2007 when I was a House of Representatives member, around Abuja and Nasarawa state.
“I have my own farmland here in Sagbama, about 25 hectares, and I have various farm produce including fish , crops, vegetables, poultry, cattle among others.
“In Yenegwe, Yenegoa local Government Area, I have over 30 hectares and the one in Abuja, Kolangwua Tupa is about 100 hectares.
“I developed interest in farming in the village with my parents and cultivating plantain because my father was a farmer,” he explained.
Dickson further decried the over dependence of people on government for employment saying it was unhealthy.
According to him, such dependence is a tragedy of underdeveloped and deprived environment like Bayelsa.
On the state government’s efforts to the development of agriculture, Dickson said “we have made a lot of investment to enable our people engage in farming.
“We have built an aquaculture village in Yenagoa, the state capital; there, we have over 2,000 young fishermen under training.
“We have also built 35,000 birds capacity poultry and that has been handed over to the University of Africa, Sagbama.
“We have cassava starch processing factory, which is the largest not only in Nigeria but Africa. It was built by a Dutch company,” the governor said. (NAN)
