The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) has called for more youth participation in agriculture to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country.
The call was made at the association’s conference organized by its Northern wing in Lafia the capital of Nasarawa State.
There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria’s unemployment rate has continued to take the upward slope especially among its youth population.
Data released from the National Bureau of Statistics in 2022 reveals that about 53.40 percent of Nigerian youths are unemployed.
This could be partly responsible for the involvement of youths in social vices such as armed robbery, cultism, internet fraud and many others.
It is to address this that, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Northern wing is organizing this conference for 65 delegate youths in the region.
The participants were drawn from nine states which includes Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe, Plateau, Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Abuja.
It wants youths in the country to pay more attention to agriculture and acquire the needed skills to excel in the field.
The motive of the conference is a trigger for both the executive and legislative arms of the Nasarawa state government and they are committed to actualizing this goal.
Participants at the conference are satisfied with the knowledge garnered and are ready to put them to use.
With the theme green skills for green jobs the conference will embolden the participants to pick more interest in agriculture and this knowledge is expected to be stepped down to other members of the association.