GO-GREEN
INITIATIVE
USING JATROPHA
PLANT AS FEEDSTOCK
FOR BIOFUEL
PRODUCTION
BY:
AKIN ONORIODE COLLINS
36 OLD UGHELLI/WARRI ROAD,
P. O. BOX 108,
AGBARHO – DELTA STATE,
NIGERIA.
TEL: +2348053228176
E-MAIL: akinonoriodecollins@yahoo.com

· Project Name: Make it Work, How Can YOUTH fight YOUTH
unemployment

· Team Name:
Go-Green Initiative

· Country:
Nigeria

· School:
Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun – Delta State,
Nigeria.

· Mentor (if applicable)
Is it a real problem of unemployment?
The effects and consequence of youth unemployment in
Nigeria is a real syndrome that is eating deep into the national
economy, and have given birth to new waves of diverse
crimes, which include kidnapping, robbery, fraud, oil pipeline
destruction, cybercrime, youth restiveness and a lot more. The
youth are engage in the aforementioned acts due to the high
rate of unemployment after graduating from the Universities in
order to meet up with personal needs and livelihood.
How serious is it?
It is very serious problem because the rapid growth
rate of youth unemployment in the country is inclining
the poverty rate and it has crippled the nation economy
and output.
Poverty
What is the situation in your country, region, town?
The situation at Agbarho in Ughelli North Local
Government Area of Delta State, in Niger Delta region
which is counted among the minority region in Nigeria
has suffers the unemployment disease due to
marginalization of the region and neglect by
government, Delta State is an oil producing state in
Nigeria, but there is no jobs opportunity, the state
government has placed embargo on civil service
employment since 2010 and the oil jobs is not easily
come by.
Employment
Government embrace of go-green initiate
(Agriculture)
What is the age/gender/education/background of affected people?
The government policy on employment is another factor that is affecting the youth, for
instance an advert for a civil servant job, will required a fresh graduate to have 8 – 10 years
experience, and the applicant should not be more than 25years old, how on earth can
someone have 8-10years experience at the age of 25years. Majority of persons graduate
from the university at the age of 22 – 30years depend on the family background.
Are you or your peers affected?
I and my peers are directly affected by this unemployment problem.
Is there evidence of brain drain?
The evidence of brain drain is established because of the graduates are involve in so many
menial jobs in neighbouring countries and some have migrated to western countries in
search of greener pastures. Other who could not leave the countries engaged themselves
with crimes and illegal business.
Who is leaving the country, where are they going and why?
Due to the high rate of unemployment, many youth have migrate to neighbouring
Africa countries like Ghana, South Africa, Europe and USA in the name of finding a
greener pasture. Migration of youth also extends its tentacles to rural-urban drifting, leaving
agriculture in the hands of the old and weak. This has in turns create food security and
shortage of agricultural raw materials for production purpose has shot its peak in term of
price and gives rise to high price of finish goods.
DISCOVER
What are the causes of this problem?
The causes of youth unemployment in Nigeria, particularly in the form of graduate
unemployment, has become pronounced in the last two decades due primarily to
upsurge in the output from tertiary education and inelastic labour absorptive capacity of
the Nigerian labour market for the services of university and polytechnic graduates.
Below are some causes of unemployment in Nigeria
•
The neglect of agriculture by government
•
The mono product of the economy by relying on petroleum
•
Managerial incapability,
•
Effort duplication,
•
Unaccountability,
•
Low quality of training inputs,
•
Inadequate funding,
•
Policy inconsistency and poor governance,
•
Unwieldy scope of programmes and ineffective targeting of beneficiaries
Who is responsible for this situation?
Government is the cause of this situation by not engaging youth in agricultural scheme
which is the pyramid of employment for all youth.
· Do the reasons lie in inappropriate educational curricula, ways to obtain skills
and experiences, or are this more because of the overall economic
environment?
The reasons lie in inappropriate educational curricula which are regulated and control
by the government, if properly regulated by government to ensure youth to get
involved in Agricultural activities during the one year of serving the nation, a
programme which is known as National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
SOLUTION
Economic growth is not the only
solution to curb unemployment in
Nigeria, as the official statistics
illustrate
that
previously
unemployment did not always decline
with the economic growth. Other
solutions such as the provision of
right skills to the people to help them
tackle the problems and lead a more
prosperous life should also be given
importance,
especially
in
the
agricultural sector which is a bedrock
of employment for both private and
public
stakeholders.
Human capital and wealth
creation
Employment
Government embrace of go-green initiate
(Agriculture)
HOW WOULD YOUR SOLUTION LOOK LIKE?
My solution involve planting, harvesting, hulling,
extraction of jatropha oil from seeds by extraction
and transterification for biofuel production. So
therefore the process of planting to marketable
product of jatropha will create more enough job
opportunities. This solution will equally solve
climate change problem because Jatropha is a
carbon sink, two (2) plants will help to absorb 1
metric ton of carbon from the environment, so
therefore if more youth re engaged in such project
more hectares of land will be cultivated and
emitted carbon in the atmosphere will be reduce by
jatropha plant which is a carbon sink plant.
WHAT WOULD BE THE TIMELINE?
The timeline for a jatropha plant to start
bearing fruits is 8months to 1year and once
planted it can be harvested for 50years.
HOW WOULD YOU MEASURE YOUR
SUCCESS?
I will measure my success by ensuring that
rural youth are involve in the planting activities
to harvest and this will help to reduce ruralurban drifting that is making the cities over
populated. I will equally checkmate my
success with the crime rate, and the impact of
climate change effects. Environmental friendly
biofuel which will be a substitute to fossil fuel
(crude) and this will create income to every
youth involve in cultivation of jatropha plant.
WHAT WOULD BE THE OUTCOMES
AND RESULTS OF YOUR SOLUTION?
The outcomes and result of my solution will revolve around the
economics importance of the plant which include the following;
• Biodiesel production ( with better emission)
• Soap making
• Production of Pesticide
• Production of ink
• Dye and tanning production
• Production of gum
• Control climate change due to reduction in air pollution
• Organic fertilizer
• Herbal tooth brush
• Treatment of skin disease(seed Oil)
• To stop bleeding (Stem sap flowing)
• Antimicrobial property (Latex)
And this will help to create employment opportunities for young
graduates in urban and non-graduates in rural areas.
· YOUNG UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE REACHED?
Young unemployed people can be reached through the Local Government
Area Council, Radio, Television Broadcast and Social Network like facebook,
twitter, ypard network etc.
· YOUNG PEOPLE ENGAGED
Young people will be engaged in agricultural seminars using planting of
jatropha as the key to youth unemployment, economy growth and to embrace
go-green initiative which will help to curb the problem of environment and
climate change.
· HOURS SPENT ON PROJECT/ACTION
72 hours
WHAT IS THE TARGET GROUP YOU ARE HELPING AND WHY?
The target group I will help are graduate youth and non graduate youth living
in urban and rural area, and I wish to help them because Jatropha as a
feedstock for biofuel production project required skilled and unskilled
personnel from the field to the production plant.