Gombe State approves establishment of Leadership, Citizenship Training Institute

The Gombe State Executive Council has approved the establishment of a Leadership and Citizenship Training Institute in Boltongo, aimed at training youths in the field of leadership and how to become responsible citizens in the state to curb the increased in vices among the youths in the state.

Addressing journalists after the Executive Council Meeting in Gombe, the Commissioner of Information, Mr. Julius Ishaya, said the establishment of the institute was prompted by the need to get the youths off the streets, away from the moral decadence ad crime being witnessed in society, such as drugs and substance abuse.

“This government feels that it is important for us to have a Leadership and Citizenship Training Centre, where young people would be taken for some time and trained on leadership skills and qualities for them to understand that they are leaders of today and tomorrow ad for them to understand their duty ad responsibility as citizens of this state. For them to understand that they are supposed to be the building block of the society and the future,” Mr Ishaya said.

The Council also approved the establishment of an Agriculture Entrepreneurship Training Centre to train youths for livestock and agronomy activities, to be located in Garin Tafida of Yamaltu Deba Local Government.

The Commissioner of Agriculture, Mohammed Magaji Gettado explained that the 550 hectares of the land to be used for the training was before now used by the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, NALDA since 1988 and left fallow.

Alhaji Gettado said the essence of the training was to get the youths in Gombe State to take agriculture as a serious business and for it.

“We want to train youths to produce maximally. At the same time, it is only in Nigeria that a cow will give you just half a litre per day. Throughout the lactation period, half a litre per day, which is very, very unfortunate. With the new technology, farming activities, you can get up to 25 litres per day throughout the lactation period,” Gettado said.

He said there would e off-takers readily available for any agric produce.

The Gombe State Commissioner of Agriculture said the ministry had in the last two years introduced hybrid seeds, the Admiral and Magari Seeds, which, when managed well, could produce about 70 tons of maize grains one a one-hectare land.

He said when the land of that size could produce such a quantity, the price of the grain would be reduced drastically at the end, saying that the same applies to the production of milk per day like it was being done in some African countries.

Consequently, he said the training would teach the youths, who constituted about 70 to 75% of the population, how to use such technologies to earn a living.

Equally, the council approved the award for the contract for the second phase of the supply and installation of double Arm Sodium-fitting Solar light on dual carriage Ways in Gombe.

It also ratified the approval of the Governor on the final report on Gombe Industrial Park and the payment of the balance of the contract.

The Commissioner of Works, Mr Abubakar Bappa, said the difference between the first and second lot was that the first was meant for single carriageways, within Gombe, with single lights, while the second covered the dual carriageways within Gombe, with double lights.

PIAK