From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Fortune, on Thursday, smiled on four corps members after emerging the overall winners of N6.5 million Farmers for the Future Grant Competition towards boosting agric-business value chain among Nigerian youths.
The winners, who went away with the cash prizes were among the ten finalists earlier selected out of over 20,000 entrants for the competition sponsored by the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF).
While Chiamaka Mary Ikechukwu, promoter of NuceoAgro Services, who emerged the overall winner, went with N3 million, Augustine Nwafor, promoter of Custonus Automative, first runner-up bagged N2 million, Juwon Ibitomi, won N1 million after finishing second runner-up.
Other winners include John Eduga, who emerged fourth position and got Special Award category with the sum of N500,000, sponsored by Steve Okeleji; one of the five judges during the competition.
In his keynote address at the virtual Pitch Ceremony, the Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim, acknowledged the relevance of the initiative by BATNF, adding that it will inspire youth productivity and self employment through agriculture.
While adding that it would also ensure food security, create wealth and develop the economy, the DG said: “BATNF has itched it’s footprints in the annals of Nigeria’s history as one of the best in youth engagement and development. NYSC is exceedingly happy to collaborate with the BATNF in this ground-breaking initiative.”
Speaking further, Ibrahim urged the prize winners to utilize the experiences garnered from the competition to provide good entrepreneurial leadership for their colleagues and participants in subsequent editions of the competition.
“You should remain good ambassadors of the NYSC, you are the leaders of tomorrow and tomorrow begins now for all of you,” he warned, adding: “We also pledged the commitment of the NYSC to collaborate and nurture the initiative to optimal growth and sustainability.”
The keenly contested grand finale was a display of skills of young agro-entrepreneurs in the ground-breaking initiative of NYSC/BATNF partnership.
The competition essentially aims at promoting agro-entrepreneurial training, where corps members who emerge victorious from the competitive process, undergo training and mentoring in big farm establishments, before being empowered with money, land, agricultural inputs and services.
Earlier, the Executive Director, BATNF, Ms Abimbola Okoya, said that the exercise is expected to encourage self-employment through agro-allied ventures.
She said that BATNF has contributed immensely to Nigeria’s sustainable development agenda, especially in the areas of poverty reduction and improvement in the quality of life of Nigerians living in the rural areas.
Okoya stated that as an ex-corps member of the NYSC Scheme, the schemed had prepared her adequately for the role she is playing today in the Foundation.
“I want to thank NYSC for always supporting the youths to translate ideas into money because agriculture is the key and it’s very stable,” she said.