The Ondo government says it has concluded plans to use agriculture to discourage youths in the state from engaging in money rituals.
Akin Olotu, senior special assistant to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on agriculture and agribusiness, said the government had concluded plans to encourage more youths into agriculture to discourage the scourge of money ritual killings.
Mr Olotu disclosed this on Thursday in Akure when the executives of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ondo council, paid him a courtesy visit.
He disclosed that some youths in the state had started earning dollars through the exportation of their farm produce.
Mr Olotu, who noted that opportunities abound in agriculture, charged the youths to shun money rituals and other criminal means of making money.
He reiterated that the government would give the necessary support to those who desire to venture into farming.
The governor’s aide said he had met with the leadership of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in the state on the need to discourage youths from the scourge, and urged the media to assist the government in the area of advocacy.
“I have met with PFN leadership in the state. I want us to pay attention to ritual killings in the state. We may not know the gravity of what is going on now until the next five years,” he said.
Mr Olotu commended media professionals in the state for their commitment to the course of information dissemination.
“Journalists deserve appreciation for the job they’re doing,” he said.
In his remarks, the chairman of the Ondo State Council of NUJ, Leke Adegbite, commended Mr Olotu for his efforts at revamping the agribusiness sector.
Mr Adegbite thanked the governor’s aide for appreciating the efforts of journalists in promoting peace and unity.
(NAN)