Chidimma Uchegbu -Abuja
The Chairman and CEO of CSS Global Integrated Farms, Gora Nasarawa State, Prof. John Kennedy Opara, has revealed that since the establishment of the farm, he has been able to train more than 8000 unemployed youths across the country.
He made this disclosure Tuesday, 20 January, 2026, while speaking to Journalists during the commissioning of CSS Hatchery and Soap Factory at Km 10, Keffi-Abuja Expressway, Gora, Nasarawa state.
Prof Opara, who expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the training programmes on many youths, noted that some of them are currently running their own businesses and even training others.
Disclosing his vision behind the establishment of the CSS Integrated Farms, he emphasized that the zeal was borne out of the need to address the lingering scarcity of food and insecurity in the country .
“So far I have trained more than 8000 unemployed youths, and I am happy to let you know that the result I am getting from Bauchi, Oyo, and so many other states, is quite encouraging.
“Honestly, my focus was to address the food scarcity we have in this country and the challenge of insecurity through gainfully employing young men. I believe that this farm offers the privilege of almost more than 1400 workforce and I also believe that the more people you employ, empower and engage, you will reduce the security challenges in this nation of ours and make sure we bring food scarcity to the barest minimum.” says the pioneer Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission NCPC.
Commissioning the Hatchery, the former President of Sierra Leone, His Excellency, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, called on CSS Integrated Farms for regional collaboration, so as to spread out the knowledge, the expertise and the skills to other African countries.
He said, “We should be doing more of this within the African context than sending our young people out of the continent. Sending our products out of the continent, I think we should, utilize everything that is produced. And the good thing about the CSS is that nothing is wasted. Whatever that is a byproduct will also converted to a product. So it’s just an all round economic activity.
“The CSS group is what I would refer to as the building blocks that we require to build not only Nigeria, but ECOWAS region. In Africa, we have the potential capacity, and having the potential in natural resources and abundance of land alone, we will not be able address our challenges we begin to do what we have seen the CSS doing; by bringing together, deploying both human capacity, deploying management skills, and building and training people as it is happening here.”
In his remarks, Ambassador, United Nations, Philbert Abaka Johnson, called on the governments to support the initiative for it to work in Nigeria, African continent and job seekers.
“I just want to say that this is an inspiring example of industrialization in the continent. And we’ve heard the former president of Sierra Leone and the chairman speak passionately about what we ought to do. And this is something that has been done by someone who has passion, someone who has knowledge and vision to work it through.
“And so, we should all support this initiative wherever we find ourselves to make it work for us and our continent and every individual that requires job and employment he said.
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