The Oyo State Government plans to generate N1 billion in annual revenue through agribusiness, according to Dr. Debo Akande, the Director-General of the Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA).

During a media briefing held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Akande noted that over 600 youths out of 3,000 from the state who received training in Nasarawa State last year have been empowered and engaged in crop and animal farming under various government programs, including the Oyo-Cares project.

He emphasized that Governor Seyi Makinde’s vision for the sector has placed the state ahead of others in agribusiness development, including the African Development Bank (AfDB). The state has established an Agricultural free trade zone, and AfDB is implementing a similar project at a continental level. Akande anticipates generating over N1 billion worth of revenue for Oyo State by the end of next year, and he believes that Oyo State will continue to generate income from agribusiness for the next twenty years.

Oyo is the only state in the whole of the southwest that has been accorded respect by World Bank to join what they call L-Press Project, that’s another forty million dollars. We held the launching in Abuja and Oyo state was there, it’s public knowledge. Oyo state is not just becoming the darling of everybody it is because we have a governor that has a vision who is following through what is the global trend in international best practice in agricultural development and that has started yielding results.”

“Let me say one thing here if we built one of these and it generated one billion and then it has a revenue pipeline for twenty years because that’s what we’re doing. People occupying the place (the big agricultural investors) are paying a certain amount of money for leases over twenty years period which means we already income stream for Oyo state for the next twenty years. Now let’s have ten of this across the state over the same period and know the true meaning of revenue from agriculture.”

“And If I can be generating one billion every year from agribusiness alone for the state for the next ten years, because if we keep on building new ones through private sector driven, we will, and I’m not even talking about the volume of employment that will be generated through our expanded agribusiness value chain but the volume of crop production and livestock that will be coming out of Oyo state. And while that is being put in place we must design a new sustainable system that will be able to cater for us as a people and that can add to our economic growth. That’s all we’re doing.” Akande explained.”

Speaking further, Akande, who showed journalists the organizational structure of OYSADA, said the management staff of the agency are not employees of the state and do not draw operational funds including salaries and other benefits from the state coffers.

He said IITA, whose funds are being solely managed by itself, is responsible for the funding of OYSADA’s management staff, contrary to the misinformation being peddled by those he described as disgruntled political farmers.

“So, no funds has passed through OYSADA to Awe. Again, it was my ingenious or innovation that made me brought in IITA to start implementing projects within that particular location and every single fund that has been expended there for training of youths and other forms of empowerments in that particular location were IITA money and I’m not the one managing IITA funds,” Akande said.