All things being equal, the Lagos State government will from September, commence disbursement of N6.25 billion as loans to interested unemployed youths in the state.
The fund according to the commissioner for Wealth Creation, BabatundeDurosinmi-Etti is to assist unemployed Lagosians to create wealthby setting up businesses of their own. And it is meant for everybody including artisans and traders.
He said the creation of his ministry was on account of the huge number of unemployed youths in Lagos state and that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had directed the fund to be made available to ‘everybody’. Consequently, interested individuals and groups have been advised to organize themselves for easy accessibility to the fund.
Given the dire economic situation in the country and the high unemployment rate especially among the youths, the proposal by the Lagos State government to make some funds available to unemployed youths to set up their own businesses is very visionary and therefore worthy of commendation. It recognizes the problems in the continued harbouring of a large army of youths with no visible means of livelihood and the potent danger it poses for the peace and orderly conduct of the society.
By making available the loans to the youths to set up their businesses, the government would have kept them busy as gainful partners in wealth creation, while at the same time obviating those ills associated with joblessness. It is therefore a worthy intervention to add value to human capital by making them worthy citizens. The larger benefits to society are enormous.
Though details of the modus operandi of the fund are yet to be made public, there is no doubt that if properly managed, it will go a long way to create jobs for the army of the unemployed youths who daily roam the streets for lack of gainful unemployment. This will not only rob off very positively on the reduction of the sundry crimes that have come to buffet our urban centres but diffuse the potent threat to national stability which the subsisting situation portends.
The Lagos State government is therefore on the right track for coming to terms with the reality that given its cosmopolitan nature with a burgeoning population, some form of direct intervention to have the youths engaged is a sine qua non for peace and stability of the state.
Yet, as commendable as the project is, adequate care must be taken to ensure that the overall objective is neither defeated nor circumscribed by actions or inactions either on the side of prospective beneficiaries or those to be charged with its implementation. We say this because of the tendency for the fund to be sabotaged by the observed penchant of the average Nigerian to see such loans as free funds to service conspicuous consumption.
Since the fund is said to be for all those who apply, it is only to be expected that the number of applicants will far outstrip whatever is available for disbursement.Yet, it is still a good beginning. What needs to be done is for the state government to come up with fool-proof criteria for authenticating the identity and other information to be supplied by prospective beneficiaries.
In a clime where data on individuals is hard to come by, there is the need to work very closely with traditional institutions, market associations and the like to stand as guarantee for applicants. Also very relevant is the need to verify and monitor the kind of businesses the loans are to be deployed.
It was in an apparent move to check these sources of abuse that the government warned that those who will supply false names and wrong addresses or divert the loans to frivolous activities such as weddings would be made to face the law. That is the way to go otherwise the good idea may be defeated by some of our ruinous dispositions and attitudes to anything that is of the civic realm.
No doubt, there is the urgency to get the youths engaged through such intervention loans if we are serious in reducing the debilitating unemployment rate in the country. With the daily laying off of workers on account of the technical recession which our economic managers have admitted, governments both federal and state must seek out other alternatives of aiding the unemployed to engage in some form of self-employment. That will also involve conscious and concerted efforts to provide such supportive infrastructures as power, water, durable roads among others. At present, the current state of these social infrastructures is a serious disincentive to investment.
Ours is a county where many are qualified to work and are prepared to work. Yet they cannot find any work to do. That is the irony of our situation. And we can continue with such a foreboding scenario with dire repercussions. The Lagos State government should work with great zeal and focus in determining artisans and traders genuinely intent in improving their fortunes and avail them of the loans.
The initial disbursement of N6.25 billion should serve as a pilot scheme and experiences gathered from its implementation brought to bear in enhancing the overall success of subsequent disbursements. Closely linked to this is the ban on street trading which the state government has moved to enforce. A recent interview by some reporters on why street trading flourishes, highlighted such factors as the poor state of the nation’s economy, spiralling inflation, lack of sufficient capital to start off business, inability to pay for shops that are usually out of the reach of many, among others.
The loans when properly managed and harnessed, will also partly address street trading which was outlawed since 2003 but has not been fully implemented because of the abject poverty in the land and the repercussions of having toexacerbate the situation. It was in an apparent realization of the yawning gap between the ban and the material conditions of the people that reservations have been made on its full implementation now.
The government appears not unmindful of these reservationsas it has gone ahead to engage the public on the evils of patronizing street hawkers. The state Commissioner of Police, FataiOwoseni took up the challenge to sensitize the public on the dangers inherent in patronizing these street hawkers when he recently addressed the media.
After enumerating the dangers associated with street trading such as robberies, sale of harmful and substandard goods and exposure to accidents, he admitted “We know the mood of the society and we want to balance our enforcement and that is why we are doing a lot of public enlightenment”. He has said it all.
Owoseni raised another valid issue when he urged street traders and hawkers to form a formidable front and meet the government to create corner shops for them. That initiative should rather be taken up by the government as it will enhance the overall success of any eventual and full implementation of the ban on street trading.
With the creation of the corner shops that are within the reach of the poor, youths who are lucky to benefit from the loans will have little problem adapting to the competitive business environment. By the same token, traders driven out of the street will find alternative and affordable places to do their business. So the corner shops are two sides of the same coin as they will not only enhance overall success of the utilization of loans but the crusade against street trading. Should we wait any longer to have them on stream?
