He said that agricultural products like vegetables and yam grown in Nigeria are highly sought after in countries across the world.
Founder of the Canadian Black Farmers Association, Toyin Kayo-Ajayi, has said that Nigeria can compete globally in the agricultural sector if it harnesses its abundant resources.
Kayo-Ajayi stated this on Thursday during Channels Television’s Youth Forum, a live interactive programme.
He said that agricultural products like vegetables and yam grown in Nigeria are highly sought after in countries across the world.
He said, “In the next 10 years, Nigeria is going to be a very beautiful, industrial country; I will tell all the youth this. I am even planning to move back home.
“We are so blessed in Nigeria. Here (in Canada), I had to create the weather that we have in Nigeria. I just created loamy soil in Nigeria; I am about to package it in bags and sell it across Canada.
“With agriculture alone in Nigeria, we can control a lot of things globally. Our vegetables are actually herbs and I am doing research on that.
“What I am doing here is me trying to grow yam in Canada. I have to control the environment but we have it in surplus (in Nigeria).”
While recounting his journey into agriculture, he faulted the notion that farming was exclusive to those who could do well academically
“What discouraged me from farming in Nigeria was that when I was in school, we were told, ‘If you don’t study, you are going to be a farmer. It sounded like a curse.
“Even from the age of five, six, seven, I went to the farm with my grandparents, and I saw the benefits of farming; that is one profession that will not go out of style,” he added.
Youth Forum, with the theme, ‘Pressing Issues Affecting Nigeria’s Youth, features discussions with experts and youth leaders on issues affecting young Nigerians in education, health, business, the creative industry and others.
It is a platform for youth engagement as President Bola Tinubu, and several governors across the country mark their second year in office.
