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Edo State College of Agriculture Students Begin Training At Rubber Research Institute

A batch of 48 students of the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi have been posted to the Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria, Iyanomo, Edo State, for a three months internship programme, in continuation of efforts to reposition the college by the Godwin Obaseki-led administration.

Majority of the students, said to have resumed for the training and are expected to get hands-on experience of the different areas of the science and technology of rubber production.

Director and Programme Leader, Rubber Improvement and Biotechnology Programme at the Institute, Dr. Kenneth Omokhafe, said that the students have been posted to various units at the research facility for training.

“We have received the students. They are done with documentation and have been posted to several units here. In fact, some of them have been posted to the field. They are going to get hands-on experience here on the nitty-gritty of rubber research and allied areas,” he said.

He said the state government was instrumental to the students being posted to the college as agreements had been reached to ensure the institute opens its doors to the students and ensure that they receive comprehensive training on the facility’s area of expertise.

The students join 90 others who were deployed to Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc and Presco Plc, in a holistic programme being implemented by the state government to revamp the College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi, into a world-class institute.

Renowned Professor of Agriculture, Prof. Oluwafemi Balogun, is leading the task of the college’s restructuring, which is expected to transform the college into a center of excellence in agricultural training.

The students would be paid N20,000 monthly stipend during the period of their training by the state government.