Senate Minority Whip Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon has empowered some youths to set up their own businesses. His gesture, says Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman Chief Henry Ajomale, is a reminder of the nation’s empowerment crisis. Assistant Editor DADA ALADELOKUN reports.
The event started on a convivial note. But, suddenly, there was silence. The speaker’s voice quaked, as listeners nodded their heads. Chief Henry Ajomale, Interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, held the microphone, analysing what remains a pain in the hearts of many Nigerians.
He struggled to contain his emotions as he bemoaned the fate of the 19 job seekers who died last month during the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
The Blue-Roof, popular events rendezvous on the sprawling LTV premises in Alausa, Ikeja, was filled. It was a moment for “the lucky ones” – numbering about 800 – who were being empowered with multi-million-naira equipment. The posture was a follow-up to their two-week training in various vocations, to teach them “how to fish.”
The event was sponsored by Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon the Minority Whip of the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, representing Lagos West District. He was supported by the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports.
Exuding excitement, the youth donned branded T-shirts. With hearty praise-songs for their benefactor, they filled the roomy hall to capacity as early as 9 am, looking into the future with an air of assurance. At some locations in the hall was a spectacle: Loads of the expensive equipment that were later given to them with take-off grants.
Before Ajomale spoke, Solomon had told the gathering why he took the bold step to rescue the beneficiaries from the brink of despondency with the training that ended on February 25.
“With the various skills acquired by the youth, they need not continue to worry their heads over the white-collar jobs that are not there. Besides the equipment, we are also giving them some stipends in bank drafts to help them start off without ado,” Solomon said, urging them to be serious in their vocations.
Sobriety gripped the gathering when he lamented the terror of joblessness in the country, especially among able-bodied youths. An unpleasant noise swept through the crowd in response to Solomon’s outburst on the ill-fated “NIS 19.” Sighs of agony and frustration shook the gathering. After a one-minute silence demanded by the senator for the repose of the late job seekers’ souls, he sought more commitment from the government and other stakeholders in the fight against unemployment, which he warned, was becoming a major threat to lives and property in the land.
Everyone rose in earth-shaking ovation for the lawmaker. APC chieftain Cardinal James Odunmbaku (Baba Eto); Mr Wale Raji, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, who represented Governor Babatunde Fashola; Mrs Risikat Akiyode, who stood in for Fashola’s deputy, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire; another APC leader, Bashorun Tajudeen Jaiyesimi; officials of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports, among other dignitaries, were not left out.
Ajomale was effusive in Solomon’s praise for his thoughtful generosity, especially towards the beneficiaries. Urging them to make good use of the gesture, the politician said: “If you teach a person how to fish rather than giving him fish, you are eradicating poverty in his life. This is what our senator is doing and the Federal Government must imbibe it.”
Fashola had kind words for the senator, saying of the empowerment: “This is a timely intervention in view of the rate of unemployment in the country today.” Orelope-Adefulire also lauded Solomon’s passion for the development of youths and women, adding: “This is a gesture that will complement government’s poverty-reduction efforts and socio-economic rebirth. This will certainly reduce crime rate.”
The Coordinator, New Renewal Group (NRG), an influential political body in APC, Mr Abiodun Musa, stormed the LTV premises with one of his group’s branded vehicles – loaded with various souvenirs. “This man (Solomon) is not only an asset to his district; he has proved a treasure to our party by exemplifying what it stands for – compassion for the less-privileged. Giving is his life; it is one virtue that all of us, including you, must imbibe,” he told a group of some beneficiaries.
Pleasant surprise was bold on the faces of the youth when Solomon and the dignitaries stepped out to present the equipment, certificates and the grants to them. On their lips was the tacit exclamation: “So, this can be true!”
Mojeed Afiz, who learned barbing, got kits to start off; Abayomi Agbelega and Olamide Faniran smiled home with bench grinders; Jude Okoro, dish installation equipment, Halimat Adeleke, shoe-making machine, among others.
A graduate of Sociology from the Lagos State University (LASU), Ibrahim Adisa, could not contain his joy. He was trained in barbing after his futile effort at securing a white-collar job. “I’m from Alimosho. Youths are the leaders of tomorrow but our government has not proved it to us. I believe posterity will remember the senator for this gesture. I know that soon, I will become an employer of labour,” he said.
Rashidat Adigun, a graduate of the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), was trained in Make-up and Gele. She was happy that the senator fed them during the training and then gave N1,000 each daily for fare. praying for the lawmaker, she said: “I had looked for an opportunity to learn the vocation in many places, but they kept demanding about N100,000 from me, which I couldn’t afford. I thank God that GOS has done it for free.”
Indeed, it was an outing that was generally adjudged a model in the concerted efforts to bail the nation out of the woods by building the economic base of the citizenry.
