Senator Solomon Ewuga, who represents Nasarawa North Senatorial zone in the Senate, speaks, among other issues, on his efforts to provide jobs for youths in Nasarawa State, in this interview with YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU. Excerpts:
There are speculations that your jobs scheme has rather defrauded youths in your zone. Is this true?
That is not true. I can’t do that. I am not a fraudster.
What is the true position?
I am rather spending my own little earnings to empower the youth of Nasarawa State. There is what we call co-operatives. Co-operatives work through group interest, based on their trade specialties. What I am trying to do is for people to build a spirit of business acquirement using co-operative movement to develop a business spirit that will ensure that they can manage themselves.
I work to develop the template based on my own experience on what happened in Western Nigeria where you find a very strong mercantilist class. A good number of youths have been registered for the programme.
How much did they pay as registration fee?
Each of the participants paid N2, 000. We got someone to advice us on the programme. Before we realised it, the person had already collected N2,000 from people in order to enlist them into the system. There is no problem with that. Then, I gave some money to kick-start the programme, but there was a misapplication in the process. In the face of this, we lost momentum. I had to wait to appraise the fund.
I noticed that if we went the way we were going, we will still have some problems. So, I had to register a foundation. We have a certificate of incorporation. We have money that is going to be paid into a bank that will operate it. We have a Board of Directors with my wife as the chairperson, and with professionals who will advise us and train members of the co-operative. So, all these things are on ground. What remains now is for me to fix a time when we can have proper understanding and appreciation.
It is not everybody that is enlisted that will get participate. It is people who are serious. There are people who already have a bank account in readiness for this. It is the bank that will run this under close supervision with the trustees of the programme. That is the position.
So, we have done a lot of work at the background. These are the things I didn’t do. When I first came I had a lot of zeal. I did it and the money was supplied. That is why I am having these problems. But the matter has been handled appropriately. There is no need rushing and creating problems.
Will the fund attract any interest?
It is an administrative kind of venture. But whatever you are going to pay in addition to whatever you are taking will be an administrative charge, nothing more than that. The money is coming back to me. They are not going to squander the money because they are going to be bonded by the virtue of the group interest. They are not going to pay back the money individually but the group they belong to. That is how it is going to be done. People think it is government that is financing it; so they think they can squander the money. It is not going to be so.
How much have you earmarked for this project?
Initially, we had earmarked about N20 million which was misapplied. So, we don’t want to spend money in an inappropriate manner. We want to provide more money this time round. That is the position.
How much will a beneficiary get?
It depends on the input of individual’s profession. Some of the beneficiaries may receive N500, 000. For instance, those who are into vulcanising as a trade will get more money because the machine costs about N85,000.
You don’t have to give them N1 million because it is a maximum of 10 people. If they are going to be dealers in say, grain, they will do it in a refundable and revolving loan arrangement. Whatever they do, they will refund the money to the bank and keep the profit for themselves.
How long is the repayment period?
This will also depend on the type of individual’s trade. Their trade type will determine their capacity. For example, if they are traders, and it is a seasonal trading, they will be bonded by the term, but if you are an iron bender, you first have to learn the trade, then may be a few will need an additional amount to what they have, say N1 million. We will provide the N1 million on a repayable basis. It is a value exchange programme that propels them into a mercantilist class.
Have you done anything to make these youths acquire entrepreneurial skill to avoid a situation where the fund is wasted?
In my community here, there is a skill acquisition centre.
You initiated that?
Yes, by the grace of God. Right now we are talking with SURE-P so that they will transform it into a workshop, to build a workshop in addition to the centre so that people will have a variable trades like block making, carpentry and joinery among others.
People have started training. If any of them is a trader, he doesn’t need any training. An iron bender does not need any training; a mechanic will need some form of training and all that. We are going to work with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) which will provide them with support services.
In other words, your aim is empowering the youth in order to stem the tide of youth restiveness?
That is exactly our aim. If you don’t empower people to do things for themselves, to fend for themselves, then you are not helping both the individual and the society. You have to provide the basic infrastructure like roads, water, hospitals, electricity and others. You must have an ordered pattern of appraisal of issues. If you don’t plan to succeed, then you will fail. So, you must plan to succeed. Enabling youths is enabling the wealth of the society through employment opportunities.
