The Presidential Amnesty Programme Office has disclosed plans to establish 10,000 farms with revenue generation capacity of N58billion annually under its agricultural programme for 2017.
Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, the co-ordinator of the programme, Paul Boroh, the initiative was to train ex-agitators while providing employment and enriching the economy.
According to Boroh, “the impact of this initiative on the economy is that if each of the 10,000 ex-agitators are gainfully trained, they may generate N240 million yearly which will amount to N240 billion”.
The Amnesty boss also said if 10,000 ex-agitators are successfully trained to be farm owners, they can employ 40,000 farm workers and a logistics Processing Value Chain of 30,000 jobs across the Niger Delta.
“While the 40,000 farm workers will in return also generate N600,000 each which is N24 billion, while Logistics/Processing will yield N360,000 for 30,000 workers yearly which will amount to N14.8 billion”, Boroh said.
While commenting on the benefits of agriculture in providing employment opportunities, he said the initiative by Presidential Amnesty Office was geared toward ensuring that people of the Niger Delta region earned a living rather than beg for it.
“The Niger Delta people are committed to exploring the agricultural potential of this nation to its maximum advantage”, he added.
Boroh, who is also the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta affairs, noted that present administration was committed to laying a solid economic foundation for the future through mechanised farming.
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