In a bid to reduce search for white cola jobs young school leavers in Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency, numbers of youths from Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency, have taken part in free training programme on snail farming
The two days programme was put together by a lawmaker, member of House of Representatives, representing Ibarapa East/Ido Federal Constituency, Rt. Hon. Oluyemi Adewale Taiwo.
The participants were taught the practical aspect of snail farming and how to survive in the business.
The program was handled by Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in Collaboration with CAMP DAVID GLOBAL SYNERGY LIMITED.
Hon. Yemi Taiwo addressing the participants at the training
In a WhatsApp Video chat said ”the essence of the training is to diversify economy from oil to Agriculture as part of federal government agenda with the sole aim of making the youths self-employed.”
The lawmaker also made provisions for materials to all the participants that will help them in snail farming after the training. They also received certificates of participation in the training and Cash gifts as start up.
Empowerment of the youths is not the sole responsibility of the government but a collective responsibility of the generality of the citizenry.
In an interview with one of the participants, Adekunle Funmilayo appreciated the kind gesture of Hon. Yemi Taiwo saying the training to her is one of the best she has attended so far.
According to her, it is rather about bringing the youths in particular into limelight of how to fish for themselves rather than being fed with the fish.
“The training has motivated me to create a platform for other jobless youths. This training is not about academic qualifications, but about having something doing. I will also be an employer of labour with this training I have received on Snail farming”, Funmilayo added.
On his part, Kunle Saubana, another participant said she was interested in snail farming before coming to the training, saying the training served as an opening door for her to start her own business.
The instructor, Mr. encouraged unemployed youth in the country to embrace green collar jobs rather than their emphasis on white collar jobs. He further shared stories of how far Snail farming business has taken him in life so far from boarding plane to meeting and having handshake with a particular governor of Nigeria who requested he should be flown to his state to tutor some selected participants on snail farming.
Many people see snails here and there. Some people take it as meat. But quite a number don’t know how to go about rearing them. This is made worse because snails, which belong to the family of animal called MOLLUSCA, is an hermaphrodite. It has both the female and male sexual organs; so one cannot really distinguish between the male and female specie of it.
Many who are into snail farming in Nigeria are also unwilling to let others know about the farming methodology. The techniques are often shrouded in secrecy. But the plain truth is that snail farming is as easy as ABC. The only thing the snails may constantly demand from you is your attention and care. They hardly fall sick. You don’t have to buy their food and you may not have to spend much to create an abode for them. The beauty of it all is that the snails reproduce rapidly. They are capable of producing hundreds of eggs, which hatch into snails. It is now possible to produce 1,000,000 snails worth more than N5 million twice a year. This is made possible because of the availability of very highly prolific ACHATINA ACHATINA species of snails, which lay 200-400 in one batch 2-3 times a year.