The Lagos State government has said it will continue to promote a Youth Empowerment Scheme that will expose youths and students to modern agricultural value chain skills and methods in the post-COVID-19 era.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, gave the assurance on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of a five-day training in the coconut value chain for 30 student nurses in the state, at the Farm Service Center, Oko-Oba, Agege.
The training was tagged: ‘Integrating Coconut Value Chain into the Entrepreneurship Course for Student Nurses in Lagos State’.
It was a collaborative initiative of Lagos State Coconut Development Authority (LASCODA) and Lagos State College of Nursing (LASCON).
Olusanya, who was represented by the Director, Administration and Human Resource, Mrs Yemisi Rosiji, said that the training was a sub-set of the Schools’ Agricultural Programme (SAP).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the SAP was conceived in 1989 in order to support the education sector in the areas of capacity building and direct intervention.
Olusanya noted that the training would awaken the subconscious of student nurses for self-employment and equip them with the skills needed.
She said it would as well as expose them to the hidden treasures of the economic and health values of coconut.
“I am delighted to note that the SAP is extending its tentacles to tertiary institutions in the state with no other value chain at the centre but coconut, which has been variously tagged the ‘Tree of Lagos State’.
“This training is one of the outcomes of many efforts of Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture on Youth Empowerment Scheme, designed to expose youths and students to modern agricultural and food value chain skills and methods.
