• To establish Farmers House in partnership with Ekiti govt
• Awards N11.2m to best farmers in state

Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has called on more Nigerians, particularly youths and university graduates, to embrace agriculture as a viable profession and means of livelihood.

This was just as he awarded N11.2 million to the best farmers in Ekiti State.

Babalola disclosed this at the weekend during the grand finale of the 2026 edition of the yearly Afe Babalola Agricultural Expo in Ado-Ekiti.

He expressed concern that many Nigerians, particularly youths, had abandoned farming for white-collar jobs, menial jobs and other activities, warning that the trend could worsen hunger and poverty.

Babalola, who lamented the level of insecurity, including kidnapping, robbery and attacks on farmers, which he said had discouraged people from going to their farms, said that efforts were under way to establish the Ekiti Farmers’ House in Ado-Ekiti, in partnership with the state government and the 16 local councils.

According to him, the proposed initiative would acquire modern agricultural equipment, including bulldozers, ridgers, ploughs and harvesters, which would be made available to farmers at affordable rates.

The ABUAD founder said that the idea was to enable farmers, especially youths and university graduates, to embrace modern and large-scale agriculture instead of relying on traditional farming implements.

The legal icon said that the cash award had increased from the N5 million given to farmers when the agricultural expo started in 2015, adding that a total of N98 million had so far been expended on cash awards since the commencement of the programme.

He, therefore, urged the beneficiaries to invest their prize money wisely, saying that the amount of money available to an individual was less important than how it was utilised.

Babalola said that his interest in agriculture was rooted in his upbringing, recalling that he was born and raised on his father’s farm and initially aspired to continue farming before he was persuaded to attend school.