The Niger Delta Development Commission, has said it will work together with the Bayelsa State Government and a private company to educate young people in fish farming at the multi-million-naira Bayelsa Aquaculture Village in Yenegwe, Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.
The NDDC Executive Director, Projects, Victor Antai, said this when he visited the Bayelsa State-owned fish farming site, which is currently managed by Aquaseas Company Limited, along with the NDDC Director Agric and Fisheries, Mrs Winifred Madume; the Director, Procurement, Dr Week Doodei and other directors of the Commission.
This information was given in a statement released in Port Harcourt by the NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Pius Ughakpoteni, on Saturday.
Coincidentally, Doodei was the state Commissioner for Agriculture when the facility was constructed.
Antai explained: “We chose to examine this facility and see how we can incorporate it into the NDDC Holistic Opportunities, Projects and Engagement, HOPE, program, which has agriculture as its main aspect.
“The Project HOPE initiative aims to involve young people in the region by creating job opportunities for them. We have collected data on the youth in the region and many of them are keen on agriculture.
“The NDDC is determined to ensure food security in the Niger Delta region and we need to involve the youth in agriculture to achieve this aim.”
The NDDC Executive Director, Projects, remarked that he was impressed with the facilities at the Aquaculture Village, noting that the farm has a hatchery, earth ponds, and feed mill, as well as fish processing and packaging units.
He added, “We have talked about the possibility of bringing our young people from the nine states of the Niger Delta to train at the farm. After the training, ponds will be assigned to each of the trainees so they can put what they learned into practice and start their business here first, before returning to their respective states.”
Antai mentioned that the NDDC would form a partnership involving three parties, saying, “We will interact with the Bayelsa State Government and also negotiate with the company. Then the three parties will come together to discuss how to explore the best partnership that will benefit the young people of the Niger Delta region.”
Antai remembered that the NDDC recently established a partnership with the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, RIFAN, as part of its efforts to ensure food security in the Niger Delta region.
Earlier, the Managing Director of Aquaseas Company Limited, Steve Okeleji, said the aquaculture village, located on a 127-hectare land, had 500 fish ponds, 60 of which were currently stocked with catfish and tilapia.
He expressed regret that the farm was not being fully utilized.
He explained, “The agreement we have with the state government is to have a social enterprise model, where the government will bring in the beneficiaries to be trained and also support them with inputs, while we provide the necessary knowledge and expertise to ensure that the project succeeds.
“We want NDDC to collaborate with us in the area of capacity building, especially for the young people in the Niger Delta region.”
Mr. Olalekan Adeleke, who leads the Aquaseas Programmes and Project, stated that the Bayelsa Aquaculture Village is a complete facility, including a hatchery, a dry chain processing unit, a feed mill, and a testing laboratory, providing more information.
He said, “We have educated approximately 2,000 young people supported by the Bayelsa State Government. We have also partnered with the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise in the Niger Delta, LIFE-ND, which is financed by the International Fund for Agriculture Development, the Federal Government, and the NDDC, to train 900 young people.