The wife of the Olu of Warri, Her Highness, Olori Atuwatse III has commenced an intensive campaign for the resuscitation of School’s Garden in institutions of learning in Delta State.
She noted that “it is a feasible way of stimulating the interest of youths in practical agriculture at their tender age.”
According to her, “Through Royal Iwere Foundation, we came up with the concept of ‘Love Garden’ in public schools in Warri South Local Government, it’s a school farms initiative where students can learn patience, management and entrepreneurship because they know that when they plant their seeds, they must be patience for it to germinate, they must take care of the farm which is management and also support in serving their immediate community with the farm produce either food or cash crops.”
She flagged off the campaign at Dom Domingos College, Edjeba, a public secondary school in Warri South Local Government Area, on Tuesday where she formally planted some food and cash crops at the sprawling school’s farm.
The Queen Consort of Warri Kingdom also said that school’s garden could serve positive roles in building confidence and the entrepreneurial skills of the children adding that it would also train them on the future’s leadership traits.
She further said that proceeds generated from economic trees in the garden could assist in funding immediate needs of the school and maintenance of the classrooms.
While pledging the collaboration of Warri royal stool with the public and private schools in the Local Government Area, the Queen of Warri Kingdom assured that more school gardens would soon be planted across the LGA to produce not only food crops, but cash crops.
She then advised Delta State Government as well as corporate organisations in the state to “give further boost to the initiative by replicating the establishment of school gardens in colleges across the state.”
She also expressed the optimism that “the more hands coming together to do this across the state and possibly across Nigeria the better for all of us.”
