Mr Ibidapo Lawal, Founder/CEO of Neveah Ltd, a Nigerian commodities export and trading company, has urged unemployed youths to shun the “Japa” syndrome and embrace opportunities that abound in Agro business.
“Japa” refers to the tendency to run out of Nigeria in search of a better life outside its shores.
Lawal, in an interview on Saturday in Abuja, declared that agro business is a viable option that could create jobs and turnaround he nation’s economy, “if only the youths can tap into it”.
“I left this country in 2012 to the United States to do my MBA; I later got a job where I was offered 100,000 dollars annually, but I decided to come back.
“I knew that the place where you can really make money is in Nigeria and Africa, because the kind of returns you can get in Africa you cannot get same anywhere else.
“All my friends that stayed back are doing better than those that travelled abroad; you only have to be focused, you have to think outside the box, be courageous, be persistent.
“I am telling our youths not to “Japa” because there are a lot of opportunities here, especially in Agro business.
“There are a lot of Agro business opportunities our youths can explore. They can cultivate products such as cashew, ‘Zobo’, ginger and others.
“I want to tell you that ‘zobo’, yes, same ‘zobo’ you drink, and even groundnut and soya beans, can be exported. These things are in our local communities.
“As I am talking to you now, we have shipments of soya beans that are being prepared to be exported to India, Pakistan and other parts of the world.
“So, the opportunities are limitless, it depends on what you really want to do in the agricultural sector,” he said.
Lawal said that as Nigeria faces economic challenges and seeks to diversify its revenue mainstay, its rich agriculture sector is a veritable alternative, if well harnessed.
He added that if the Federal Government was serious about saving Nigeria from its present economic woes, agriculture is a goldmine that should be explored.
He advised governments at all levels to provide enabling environment in form of funding, adequate policies and programs for the sector to become attractive, especially to young people.
“As a country, we are taking a lot of risk because we have only one major source of income, which is crude oil and it accounts for over 80 per cent of our national revenue.
“Our government needs to put in place policies and incentives that can actually encourage people to go back to agriculture.
“There, people will not only farm, but export raw products and ensure that factories are built to actually add value to the products before been exported.
“The government needs to showcase Nigerian products; let them pay to have Nigerian pavilions in major economic exhibitions to encourage our exporters to showcase cocoa and other products.
“We need to tell the world that we can increase the commodity exports from this country because market access is very critical,” he said.
