Three members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Sokoto State are making the best of their service year by engaging in sheep/goat rearing; broiler, groundnuts and onion production.

The young men, Matthew Afolabi, Yusuf Owolabi and Kunle Shittu told The Guardian how they have been channelling their resources to help them earn extra income and build skills sets that could make them entrepreneurs and employers of labour in the nearest future.

Afolabi, a graduate from the Federal Polytechnic, Offa in Kwara State, who is currently serving at Tambuwal local government area of Sokoto State, said he is involved because “I got this idea from a friend who has been in Sokoto for a while. ”He was advised to purchase rams and rear them in preparation for the past Sallah festival, and he did. He bought six rams, which he started rearing while still serving.
He revealed that the cost of the rams ranged from N6,000 to N10,000 each, depending on how healthy and big they appeared.

“You have to make sure that the rams have enough food, change their water and check if they are healthy,” he explained. He also pointed out that during the last dry season, when there was no vegetation in the area, he was forced to buy formulated feeds for the animals.
“The first time I went to buy feeds, a bag cost N900 and I bought five bags, which totalled to N4500. Within a month, the rams consumed everything. So, I had to buy more bags of feed but this time, the price increased to N1,300 per bag and now N1,500 per bag. This is a challenge,” he said.

He sold each ram between N18,000 and N30,000 depending on the size. He, however, claimed that the profit margin was low because of the high cost of feeds, but was glad that the money invested was not lost.

He admitted he had never had any training on animal rearing, as this was his first experience, expressing satisfaction that he had learnt the rudiments of livestock production.Another corps member in Sokoto, Shittu, cultivated and harvested groundnuts recently on a piece of land he leased, and is about to harvest his onions.

Shedding light on how he goes about it, he said, “Planting onions requires more attention and regular weeding and this has been very stressful, unlike groundnuts. Planting groundnuts didn’t give me much stress. After planting, I only had to weed three times before harvesting. I planted three kilos of groundnuts during the raining season and I harvested a bag of groundnut and five bags of the groundnut leaves.”
Shittu revealed that he got to know about agriculture during a Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) programme at the NYSC camp orientation, and went on to his place of primary assignment where he requested for a small piece of land to plant groundnuts.

“After clearing the land, I made ridges and went to the market to buy groundnuts which was sold at N450 per two kilos. The outcome of that was very positive because I gained a lot of money. If I had known, I would have planted 50 kilos of groundnuts instead of three kilos,” he said.

Owolabi, who is now planning how to start a poultry farm after his service year, holds a degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Technology, Minna. The corps member currently rears over 150 broilers for chicken production, and is planning to expand. “I sell to people who prepare roasted chickens on the roadsides and other people that still want to eat chickens in their personal homes,” he said.

He also disclosed that he had not only earned a lot of money from the poultry production, but had learnt a lot on the business. He, however, warned about the risks associated with poultry, saying, “Poultry farming is highly profitable but the risks involved are undoubtedly many. Broilers are vulnerable to diseases and are most likely to die if proper care is not taken.”

Owolabi said the need for gainful employment creation for himself and others, and the desire to do a business that ensures a quick return on investments prompted him into the agribusiness. He also added that he got his inspiration from some of the successful men in Nigeria who engage in agriculture.

Meanwhile, Mr Bello Ballama, the NYSC FCT coordinator, had said that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) would include farming and crop production as part of the one-year primary assignment for corps members, starting from the next service year.

“This will not only support skills acquisition of NYSC but also government’s plans of boosting agricultural production to improve self-reliance and achieve national growth and development,” ballama had said.

https://www.agricinfo.com/2018/12/corps-members-cultivate-groundnuts-rear.html

I like..I posted on this one first.. every other comment below me must be disregarded .. Buhari must continue , we must endure the suffering.

The animals are dry

But what happens to his degree? Would it end in the animal kingdom?

Jjj

I made it ohhhhhhhh.. praise de Lord first to comment on this one na me

Nice one. Keep it up

Sorry. How many years did they serve?

The guy below me has something to say

Kenekingisback:
The animals are dry

Show us your own 'wet' animals.

CoolAmbience:



Show us your own 'wet' animals.

Dry skinned

Good...

W

Rubbish

KIDfurniture:
I made it ohhhhhhhh.. praise de Lord first to comment on this one na me

Wake up

KIDfurniture:
I made it ohhhhhhhh.. praise de Lord first to comment on this one na me

4 wer

No doubt,

Farming is the way out, hunger is the worst thing that can happen to any man.


FULL scale Farming will be my new year resolution to add up with my Real Estate work.

Motivating.

Yankiss:
Sorry. How many years did they serve?

I equally had turkeys while serving. I had close to 90birds if not more sef. 75males and 5 females while serving in katsina. Some of my friends were into ram and goat business as it was stupidly cheap compared to where I came from. Imagine a full grown Tom turkey going for 2k5 max and same will be re-sold for 17k minimum

Imagine

Na dem sw/north.

Good initiative.It is time to migrate to Sokoto.

Good one..far better than crime, I wish them good luck.

Kenekingisback:
The animals are dry

But what happens to his degree? Would it end in the animal kingdom?

many end in suya spot without farm or ground nut farm to show for it

Na by force?

I didn't study Malu engineering abeg.

Kenekingisback:
The animals are dry

But what happens to his degree? Would it end in the animal kingdom?

Are u sure that is d corper they are referring to... The man in dat picture is nothing look corpering in him.

KIDfurniture:
I made it ohhhhhhhh.. praise de Lord first to comment on this one na me

sorry , try again next time

KIDfurniture:
I made it ohhhhhhhh.. praise de Lord first to comment on this one na me

You didn't make anything..

Kenekingisback:
The animals are dry

But what happens to his degree? Would it end in the animal kingdom?

DEGREE NA PALI.COME TO THE NORTH YOU WILL SEE ALOT OF ALH.DOING LEGIT BUSINESS AND MAKING MILLIONS.
A CORP MEMBER IN MY CHURCH BOUGHT WATER MELON WHAT 150,000 AT THE RATE OF 120 AND SOLD EACH FOR 250 IN PH. HE MADE 130 ON EACH .30 FOR TRANSPORT.YOU CAN CALCULATE AND SEE THE PROFIT MARGIN AND YOU THINK IS NOT RICH.
WHO YOUR DEGREE HELP

CoolAmbience:



Show us your own 'wet' animals.

Don't mind him, some people will ne'er see anything good in anything.

KIDfurniture:
I made it ohhhhhhhh.. praise de Lord first to comment on this one na me

I'm sure u don't know some people had secretly gotten 8.5g network from MTN.