World Food Day: GODO, Experts Urge Ogoni Youths To Turn Agriculture, Fish Farming Into Major Employment Source
Leaders and stakeholders have called on Ogoni youths to embrace agriculture and fish farming as key avenues for job creation and economic growth in the region.
The President of the Greater Ogonis in Diaspora Organisation (GODO), Chief Ambrose Kii, in a World Food Day message, urged young people to take advantage of the fertile lands in Ogoniland to build sustainable livelihoods and strengthen food security.
He explained that the area has the potential to become a major food supplier in Nigeria and beyond if supported with modern farming inputs and investment.
“Ogoni youths must begin to see agriculture as a profitable and dignified venture. Our region has the capacity to feed Nigeria and also export food to the world,” Chief Kii said.
He appealed to political office holders in Ogoni to support farmers with funding, training, and access to equipment to enable them expand into commercial and export-level production.
Chief Kii added that the diaspora community is ready to partner with credible stakeholders to develop a strong agricultural economy in Ogoni, saying that the future prosperity of the region depends on the land.
Also speaking in Bori, an environmental expert, Dr. Kpodee N. ThankGod, highlighted the economic importance of fish farming as a reliable source of employment for the people of Ogoniland.
He stressed that ensuring food security requires environmental justice, sustainable development, and investment in agro-based ventures.
“Our survival as a people depends on our willingness to return to the soil not as peasants, but as proud cultivators of the future,” he said. “Let us revive the culture of farming, not just as a tradition, but as a tool of economic liberation.”
Dr. ThankGod called for agri-processing industries that can convert local produce such as cassava and palm fruits into finished goods for consumption and export.
He urged governments to encourage entrepreneurship, cooperatives, and access to credit, noting that agriculture should be treated as a profitable and scalable industry.
“Farming alone is not enough. We must think beyond the farm and into the factory,” he added, saying Ogoni can build a complete value chain “from soil to shelf.”
Both leaders emphasized that tackling hunger and unemployment in Ogoni requires unity, innovation, and a shift from dependence on oil to productive engagement in agriculture and aquaculture sectors. They called on youths, women, community groups, and leaders to join hands in ensuring that Ogoniland becomes a hub for food production and economic advancement.
