How we empowered Nigerians with N30b in three decades – Leventis Foundation

The Leventis Foundation of Nigeria said that it had spent over N30 billion on about 25,000 Nigerian youths, farmers in promoting agro-business and empowering farmers across the country.

Chairman of the foundation, Alhaji Ahmed Mantey, stated this in Abuja on Tuesday June 5, ahead of planned 30th anniversary of the foundation in the country.

He said for the organization, it’s been three decades of service and enhancing livelihoods of Nigerians, and that Leventis would not relent in giving back to the society and creating quality lives for the nation’s citizens. He pledged that the foundation would expand its outreach in humanitarian service across the country.

“We are working round the clock to ensure we reshape the whole business as whole,” he stated.

Executive Director of the Foundation in Nigeria,  Dr. Hope Usieta, said the organization would soon unveil a “LFN@30 Agribusiness Pitch” – a platform for people with great ideas to win up to N2,000,000 seed money for their business pursuits in agriculture.

He added that the competition would be graded into three categories and will produce winners who would comprise students, past students of the training schools and the general public.

He affirmed that over the last 30 years, the organization had expended about N30 billion on over 25,000 Nigerians to assist farmers and engaged in other humanitarian services in the country.

He said: “The annual budget of the foundation is about N1 billion. Calculate that in 30 years, it gets to about N30 billion within the last 30 years.”

Usieta stated that the theme of the 30th anniversary: ‘Three Decades of Service and Enhanced Livelihood’ reflects all of the foundation’s commitment to society in its continued efforts to give back and create well-meaning lives for participants of its training courses.

He also highlighted the milestones achieved over the three-decade period of the Leventis Foundation in Nigeria, noting that “the foundation has so far set up nine training institutes in Nigeria and Ghana, with over 25,000 youths and farmers benefitting from the training programme in modern and sustainable agriculture practices.

“The training schools in Nigeria are located in Osun, Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, Ondo and FCT. Just recently, the Leventis Foundation had a ground-breaking ceremony in Weppa, Edo State for the establishment of an Agricultural Management Institute in Edo State.

“The Agricultural Training Institute was commissioned by the Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and becomes the nineth location for the foundation to set up its training and empowerment scheme for enhancing livelihoods,” Usieta stated.