‘I feel sad when agric graduates are searching for jobs’

A graduate of Animal Production and Health from the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, Mr. Adeola Adeniran has said he feels sad each time he learns that a graduate of agriculture is searching for a white-collar job. He stated this during an exclusive interview he granted on the weekly agriculture-oriented programme, Our Farmer on FUNAAB Radio 89.5FM. “I feel sad when I hear that an agriculture graduate is seeking for white-collar job. I see this as a waste of time or misplaced priority”, he said. Adeniran, who graduated from FUNAAB about eight years ago, is currently the Technical Director of Agrolink C&L Enterprise, based in Abeokuta, .
He said his interest in this line of business started when he went for the one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme in Zamfara State. The agriculturist told Our Farmer that he worked in a livestock farm dealing with ruminants; and this helped him greatly in what he is presently doing in his company. He specialises in breeding and where he gets his stock, Adeniran said they are mainly from the Maradi Sokoto and Sahel goats in the north-west part of the country and that since he gets his stock directly from the sellers, his prices are cheaper. Adeniran talked about challenges facing the business ranging from the unexpected death of some of the animals during transit. “This business has its downside. A journey of two days at times may drag on to three or four days, and since it is not normal to feed these ruminants while in transit or give them water, if a truck conveying them breaks down on the road, there will be problems. Some of the goats will die, which is a loss to the owner”, he added.