Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Anambra-based transportation mogul and Chairman of GU Okeke and Sons Ltd, Chief Godwin Okeke, has urged Nigerian youths to embrace agriculture as an solution to unemployment.
Chief Okeke, who is also the Chairman, Board of Directors, Varaman Industries Ltd, made this call when some youths visited him at his home; noting that agriculture is a lucrative and should not be left in the hands of the old and uneducated.
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“I was the major supplier of eggs to University of Nigeria, Enugu campus, in 1971; not minding the fact that I already had a flourishing transportation company,” the businessman recalled.
Okeke urged government at all levels to make social amenities available in rural areas so that the youthful and energetic individuals can stay back instead of migrating en masse to major cities, where many become unemployed.
He also harped on the need for good road networks connecting cities and urban centres to rural areas so that farm produce can be easily transported. He expressed his willingness to support any youth who is ready to go fully into the business of feeding the country.
Okeke said that he has empowered over 100 indigent students with his scholarship scheme, saying that students were drawn from all tiers of Nigeria’s educational system.
Among his projects, Okeke the conversion of the English language department building at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka to a Chinese language development centre, including a three storey building accommodating 4000 students at Paul’s University Awka.
The GUO boss urged wealthy Nigerians to consider and contribute toward uplifting society’s less privileged.