University to embark on cocoa farming to address unemployment

Isola Moses

In getting the scholars to jump on the bandwagon in order to more add value to the Nigerian economy and create wealth in the agricultural sector, Prof. Babatunde Idowu, Vice-Chancellor, Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, has said the institution set up a machinery to go into cocoa farming to tackle unemployment.

Prof. Idowu disclosed this at an inaugural press conference with journalists in the university, in Ogwa, Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

The Sun reports that he said the nation once had the tallest building called the ‘Cocoa House’ in the West, and that the country made so much money from cocoa production in the past.

The university has made it its responsibility to bring back the heydays by going into cocoa farming to tackle the high rate of the nation’s unemployment in the country.

“We intend to start a cocoa revolution in Esanland and the entire South-South region.

“In fact, Ghana was the first African country to start producing chocolate bars. Soon, GVU will start the production of chocolate,” the Vice-Chancellor said.

According to him, the University has 667 hectares of land.

“I know that we have a large chunk of the land from the master plan and it is dedicated to agriculture.

“We have started our nursery for cocoa; we have started our nursery for cashews; we are improving on the oil palms nursery,” Idowu stressed.

The institution is going to start gradually and encourage the friends of the institution to assist on the project, he added.

“In fact, within the next three months, the university will start an industrial park which will be a hub for large-scale agricultural activities, such as apiary, production of plantain chips, cassava flour, bread production, cocoa farming, and processing among others,” he said.

The new Vice-Chancellor said the institution would extend its know-how in farming to its host community as part of its social responsibility initiative in order to boost their farming prowess.