ARAC Boss Counsels YEAP Beneficiaries On Challenges

The Director-Incharge of
the Africa Regional Aqua Culture  Centre, Aluu (ARAC), Rivers State, Dr. Stephine Joe Ansa, has disclosed that the centre was involved   in organizing programmes  aimed at enabling the youth become  agric entrepreneurs.
Ansa who spoke during the inauguration of the Youth Employment  In  Agriculture Programme (YEAP) that was organized by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural  Development  in collaboration with its Rivers State Counterpart acknowledged the challenges the youth were facing in their quest to become agro-business people .
She explained that such challenges were not peculiar to the youth alone as they can be surmounted as they progress.
“We are organizing programmes that will enable you stand on both feet and also  employ others”, she said.
The ARAC boss urged them  to strive to be employers of labour in their  chosen agric  fields of endeavours.
She appealed to the participants not to regard the programme as  political even as  she  claimed the programme was  devoid of political undertones.
“I will like to appeal that this programme be taken not as a political  programme because  the undertone I am getting is as if this is another government show.
“It is not, I can tell you that it is not, if it were,  we will have known  from the beginning,” she said.
According to her,  the programme did not start overnight as it was a well-thought-out project.
She  reminded  the beneficiaries  that they are not  being employed by the government, rather the government was only encouraging them to be self reliant and engage others in the future.
While also acknowledging the  possibility of being victims  of fraudsters  along the line of  their  business, she  however urged them to be focused and cautious.
She further called  on them to discard the idea of waiting for government to enable  them actualize their dreams.
In addition, she said the field was wide for agrio business to include  and not limited to cat fish. Others include  fresh water sprawn, marine shrimp and oyster,  amongst others.