By Idowu Abdullahi,
Kairos Events and Entertainment has announced that plans had been concluded to hold the first ever agricultural reality show in Nigeria tagged ‘Agritainment Face of Agric Nigeria (FOAN)’.
It explained that the need to empower youth in the practice, business of agriculture and change long held believe of youths towards agriculture through entertainment had necessitated the show, adding that the event would target Nigerian youths resident in urban areas.
Kairos Events & Entertainment’s Corporate Affairs Director, Ibinabo Dixon, said FOAN 2020 will targets the Nigerian youths aged 18-32, with a total of forty-eight contestants selected from the country’s six geo-political zones, noting that the selected contestants would be housed in a boot camp for ninety days and put through technological know-how in various agricultural practices from ground to the final consumer, thus ensuring their proficiency in the sector.
Dixon, through a statement on Wednesday, stressed the importance of sector to the Nigerian economy, which she argued, must provoke a tangible economic development if harnessed by the teeming population of youths in the country.
“This will proselytize business and economic opportunities, both local and international. It will encourage community development and cultural exchange amongst the participants. Another objective of the project FOAN is to support the government in achieving exceptional milestone in agriculture which would have profound effect on the growth of the economy.
“So many years ago Agriculture was one of the primary drivers of the economy of this nation, the discovery of oil in the mid-fifties gradually pushed agriculture to the back burner, attention was shifted to crude oil as our number one source of revenue. Mono economy would not suffice in a country with a teeming population as Nigeria, it is therefore pertinent to shift from a single income source to multiple income sources. This is achievable by economic diversification,” the statement said.
According to her, the sector is best positioned to lead Nigeria’s economic diversification if carefully harnessed, adding that issue of food insecurity and unemployment would be addressed with a thriving agricultural sector.
“As the organizers of the Face Of Agric Nigeria project, we are going to employ entertainment as a platform to attract optimal number of the Nigerian youths in the urban centers to engage in agricultural practices. The average Nigerian youths living in the urban areas believe that agricultural practices are meant for the rural dwellers, even those who studied agriculture related courses in the higher institutions do not want to practice. FOAN is designed to change this mindset.
“It is not news that it has become increasingly difficult to feed the teeming population; therefore, it is imperative that we develop our agricultural sector, a feat that will be futile until the most potent human capital “The Youth” is actively involved. As the world battles the COVID-19 virus, it is only a matter of time before we realize that we have entered a new Era and an Agro-revolution will be required to stem the tides,” the statement added.
Dixon, however, called on Nigerians to visit www.faceofagricnigeria.com for more information on the reality show and how to register.
