The Centre for Rural Development (CERUD) has trained youths across the State on fish breeding, management, processing, smoking, packaging and marketing techniques.
In his welcome address, the Director, Centre For Rural Development (CERUD), Mr Stephen Adeniji, said the training programme was targeted at creating opportunities for the unemployed youths in the State.
Adeniji said, “In the last five years, the unemployment rate in Nigeria has been fluctuating between 7% and 8%. In Y2020, it stood at 7.96%, it was 8.1% in 2019, 8.24% in 2018, 8.39% in 2017 and 7.06% in 2016. This trend calls for an urgent need from the government to do all it can to halt this dangerous trend”.
“Those within the age bracket of 15 – 64 years, which forms the active population, are only 53% and 8% of this active population are unemployed. That means only 45% of the entire population that is productive and they are the ones carrying the burden of this great nation. This is why this training programme is very apt at this time” he stated.
According to him, the Centre invited an experienced facilitator to take participants through all the rudiments of fish farming as a business while stakeholders in the fishing business and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), told participants about available Federal Government credit facilities and how to access them.
The CERUD Director said, “I want to inform us that CERUD helps in the development of the core rural areas of the State. If your community is lacking in any of the socio-infrastructural facilities, please feel free to bring it to our attention. The procedure is simply to ask your Community Development Association (CDA) to write and intimate us of the need”.
While declaring the workshop open, the Chairman, All Farmers Association Of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos State Chapter, Otunba Babafemi Oke said the workshop was aimed at boosting youths productivity and increasing their production capacities to a sustainable level.
His words: “My premise in this keynote address is that Fishery Managers and Scientists must take a broader view of the fishing venture than that practised in the past. We must embrace new paradigms and consider ecosystem-wide consequences that avoid managing species ‘in a vacuum’. We must also involve resource users in the decision-making process”.
“Fisheries professionals must promote a common vision for global conservation by interacting with and educating both users as well as decision-makers on the need for partnership approaches to fish rearing. Local communities must be fully engaged in fishery activities to minimise cost and ensure effective human capital development”.
Lectures were delivered by Dr Akinloye Busari on Hatchery Management and Fingerling Production while representative of Central Bank of Nigeria from Nirsal Micro Finance Bank, Mr Andrew Okoronkwo took participants through available credit facilities.
The bi-annual fish training workshop themed: “Empowering the Youths For The 21st-Century Challenges”, was held at CERUD Conference Room, Igbodu, Epe, Lagos State.
