In line with its agrarian vision, Landmark University, Omu-Aran in Kwara State, is making waves and breaking new grounds in the field of agriculture

BY STEPHEN OLUFEMI ONI/Ilorin

On the track to the fulfilment of its agrarian vision, Landmark University, Omu-Aran in Irepodun local government area of Kwara State, is maintaining its three established farms as a training ground for raising the envisioned army of agricultural entrepreneurs that would break new grounds on graduation by bringing into reality the food security aspiration of not only Nigeria but also the continent.

Speaking at the University’s 2nd Convocation press briefing on Thursday 16 July, the Chancellor of the University, Dr. David Oyedepo, said the University, in line with its visionary focus, has a massive Teaching and Research Farm where products like maize, soya bean, groundnut, cassava, cattle, pigs, sheep, cow, goat, rabbits, poultry and vegetables are produced on a large-scale, adding that further ground breaking efforts are being intensified to, very soon, yield exotic cows for milk, rice production as well as an irrigation system to enhance all seasons cropping and a biotechnology laboratory that would ease yoghurt and feed productions. In addition, he disclosed that preparation is on top gear between the Agricultural Research Centre and Landmark University Development Ventures to launch the institution’s biscuit into the market.

To demonstrate the commitment of the university to agricultural entrepreneurship, Oyedepo said the institution runs a thriving commercial farm with broiler birds, laying birds, fish ponds, crop and livestock feed productions which is steadily expanding. He said: “Their products are attractively displayed for sale at the University Garden, Landmark University Development Ventures, etc and this help to boost the internally-generated revenue for the University.”

The Chancellor said the University, in its quest towards wealth creation and generation of gainful employment in the country, has a Farm Plantation in Eleyin village near Omu-Aran, purposely established for jatropha plantation where a biofuel plant of great economic importance is being developed by the School of Engineering. The plantation, which is just Phase One, covers 534 hectares and plans are afoot to launch Phase Two. He said: “The project which commenced in April 2014 has started yielding encouraging output as some harvested jatropha seeds have been processed into diesel by the Agricultural and Chemical Engineering Departments of Landmark University.”

To cap it all, the University is not relenting in grooming the students of the institution in the art of farming regardless of their respective courses of study as a way of empowering them and promoting self-reliance and the dignity of labour towards a revolutionary contribution to national development.

According to Oyedepo, the institution, in an amazingly matchless pace, has in just four years of existence ascended into the prestigious category of the top 10 Universities in the country, adding that in the January 2015 edition of the webometrics it has taken second position among private Universities, while ranking ninth among 136 private and public Universities in the country.

In his Convocation Lecture entitled “Inclusive Agriculture: A Catalytic Trigger for Non-Oil Dependent Economy”, Dr. Olatunde Agbato, founding President and Chief Executive Officer, Animal Care Services Konsult (Nig.) Ltd, lamented that while providence has blessed Nigeria with ample opportunities for greatness and prosperity, the sad reality is that decades after independence, the country has continued to fritter away such opportunities, resulting in situations that threaten peaceful coexistence and often pushing the nation to the precipice.

An advocate of inclusive agriculture and growth, Agbato decried any initiative which makes the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer, saying inclusive agriculture and growth initiatives abhor such a trend. To him, agriculture is central to the economy of the country, hence the clamour for inclusive agriculture which is the growth in the agriculture sector in a way that access to opportunities are provided for the majority, especially rural poor, while protecting the weak. This, he said, is the greatest catalyst for triggering growth for non-oil dependent Nigeria.

“It has been observed that while the Nigerian government keeps boasting of ever increasing GDP, what the man on the street notices is ever-increasing poverty among those at the bottom of the pyramid. It is ironical that most of the benefits of the high growth rates achieved over the last few years have not reached the rural poor,” he lamented.

To reverse this trend, the lecturer said substantial growth in the agriculture sector would need to be stimulated and sustained, as the sector is key to inclusive growth, given its proven record of contributing to more robust reduction of poverty. He said: “Doing this shall require plugging Nigeria’s predominantly smallholder farmers into market-oriented value chains that provide goods and services to local, regional and global markets; thus creating wealth for both their families and the nation.

The most important pathway, he said, for the country to achieve inclusive growth in agriculture is through the enhancement of agricultural productivity, adding that no country has sustained a rapid transition out of poverty without raising productivity in its agricultural sector and creating rural employment.

A total of 573 students graduated in the convocation ceremony and of this number, 59 bagged First Class Honours Degrees, and 226 emerged in Second Class Upper Honours Degrees.