Ekiti State to Establish College of Technical and Commercial Agriculture

Ekiti  State to Establish
College of Technical and Commercial Agriculture

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State has inaugurated a 14-man committee that will drive the process of the establishment of College of Technical and Commercial Agriculture that is slated to kick off in September this year.

The committee, headed by Dr Kayode Adesodun, has five professors, five commissioners and three other top government functionaries.

Addressing members of the committee, Governor Fayemi said, "It is my belief that with your valuable inputs, this institution should admit its first set of students by this September. I hereby urge you to sacrifice your time and energy to make the dream a reality. I am here to assure you of my full support in achieving the enormous task lying ahead of you."

The governor said the college, which would run both short and long-term certificate awarding courses, will develop middle level agricultural manpower that will effectively combine skills with cutting edge technologies to drive agricultural production and productivity as vehicle for industrial and socio-economic growth.

On the justification for the establishment of the college, Fayemi said agriculture is the mainstay of about 70 percent of the state's rural population hence the need for the development of sustainable modern agriculture; adding that with the introduction of the Youth in Commercial Agriculture Development (YCAD) programme last year, the citizenry have begun to enjoy products of the programme including chicken, fish, watermelon as well as other vegetables which were previously not grown in the state.

He stated that the committee was put together not just to fast-track the take off of the institution but also to streamline and compile materials including curriculum that will ensure qualitative delivery within the context of the requirement of the national education regulatory framework.

In his remarks, the leader of the committee, Dr Kayode Adesodun assured that the committee would work carefully and discharge its duties to ensure that the college takes off as soon as possible.