The Nation Newspaper

Tag: unemployment

  • Crisis of unemployment and underemployment

    The crisis of unemployment among the youths is a global problem. The United States that seems to have the capacity to create jobs and to absorb young people into industries, services and public sectors of its economy is also not spared. Unemployment in the United States in recent times ranges between six and eight percent. In Europe, the rate is higher and varies from one country to another.

    In northern Europe, the rate is just slightly higher than that of the United States but in southern European countries like Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, the rate is bewildering. In Greece in particular among young people from 17-35 years old, unemployment is almost 50 percent. In the vast continent of Asia, unemployment is also a big challenge and in Arab North Africa and the Middle East, the rate of unemployment is also a serious threat to political stability in that region. Central and South America with the exception of Brazil and Chile is in serious trouble in terms of unemployment especially among the youths.

    Africa is almost a hopeless case. Unemployment in some parts of Africa among the youth is almost 80 percent in some cases. In Nigeria, the situation is serious and we are all sitting on kegs of gunpowder ready to explode at any time. Sixty percent of the graduates of universities and polytechnics annually troop into Lagos in search of jobs that do not exist. The manufacturing sector in Nigeria that should absorb young, willing and educated youths has collapsed where they existed or they do not exist at all. Since 1999, our economic policy has been the removal of the role of the states in economic development and job-creation under the slogan of allowing the market to take care of economic development.

    Centralised development planning that was popular in the 50s, 60s and 70s has been discarded as unfashionable because of poor management of public companies and corporations. Many of these companies have therefore been privatised and sold to people who instead of investing in them to create more jobs have themselves become scavengers, dismantling many of the plants and carting them away to be sold as spares outside Nigeria. Under the World Bank/IMF economic orthodoxy, creation of jobs now belongs into the province of private entrepreneurs and foreign investors.

    The role of the state is now restricted to the provision of private sector friendly environment while the lot of the unemployed has become a private affair of the individuals concerned and not that of government. It is true that state intervention in economic planning and development can sometimes be a deadweight on the state but we cannot always leave the fate of our young people to market forces and private investment. There may be a need as advocated by the late Lord Maynard Milton Keynes for massive state investment and intervention in job creation because without jobs, there can be no stability and if well managed state intervention by putting jobless people to work can lead to increase in national wealth in spite of whatever temporary inflation that may accompany it. A situation in Nigeria where young graduates are roaming the streets, riding okada or doing domestic jobs is a situation of unacceptable underemployment.

    In a developing country like ours, there are so many aspects of our lives that are crying for development; we do not have good roads, pipe borne water, electricity supply is fitful inadequate and unsatisfactory. Our primary and secondary schools’ buildings are a disgrace when compared with similar schools in southern Africa, we do not have adequate housing for our people, we do not have decent and functional ports and yet we have a coastline begging for development if only to decongest Lagos and save the people living there from their miserable existence. Our communication and transportation infrastructure is totally inadequate for our population. I can continue to mention areas of inadequacy in our lives.

    We have a huge population of about 170 million if we are to believe our census commission. With this huge population and with the highly developed manpower, we can do something in this country. Nobody is going to help us build our country; we have to do it ourselves. We should forget about such fanciful ideas like NEPAD, APRM and other strategies anchored on foreign investment. China that is now the second biggest economy in the world and is primed to overtake the United States very soon did not develop on World Bank/IMF’s advice but looked inwards and put its people to work and today, China is the most sought after destination where America and European leaders are queuing up to seek for economic cooperation.

    We may not have the Confucius ethics driving the Chinese people towards frugality and hard work but we certainly have natural resources and the population as well as the West African market if we are serious and determined to develop. We cannot stop educating our people because I have heard people saying, universities are turning out graduates when they know there are no jobs outside there. What we need to do is to declare a national emergency on employment and under-employment and also embark on the mission of physically building our country ourselves. We can do this by buying equipment, tractors, caterpillars and putting our young people to work on building our roads, railways, modern farms, houses, schools and ports with the supervision of experts, both local and foreign.

    The end product may not be as good as the ones built by expatriates but it will be the works of our hands. Anyone visiting India would notice that their roads and buildings and buses are a little rough on the edges but they can be proud that they built them. The problem of unemployment and underemployment is so serious in Nigeria that we must take unorthodox methods to tackle it. Those of us who are in employment are daily overwhelmed by the demands on our time, purses and generosity by young people seeking for jobs.

    We find it extremely difficult to send people away without providing some words of encouragement but this would not do. Self-preservation is the first law of nature. If young people cannot survive, they would do whatever is necessary including committing crime to survive. Young people are also not getting married because both young men and women have no jobs and this is destroying the moral and social fibre of our society. We are a nation that seems not to have a future because if the young people are not getting married and having children, then what future do we have? Even the Boko Haram insurgency is not unconnected with the apparent hopelessness of young people. Our leaders particularly our political leaders do not seem to understand or appreciate the seriousness of our situation.

    They are all bogged down by the politics of re-election. If we are not careful, there may be no country to govern after election. This is the time therefore for the federal government to summon a summit to discuss the problem of unemployment in our country. If salaries have to be cut especially among those who are earning well to fund Build Nigeria campaign, we have to do this. If we block economic seepage and leakage and the corruption at every level of government, there should be enough money to back this campaign to build Nigeria. I appeal to all those in position to take drastic measures to do this before we are all swept away in a sea of youthful fury.

  • Tackling youth unemployment with vocational training

    Tackling youth unemployment with vocational training

    The Lagos State government in its drive to equip the youth with requisite entrepreneurial skills to realise their dreams of owning a business of their own held another edition of its annual Enterprise Day recently. MIRIAM EKENE-OKORO was there.

    When Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, (SAN) inaugurated Enterprise Day, an annual event in the state, little did he know that the programme will turn out to become a spring board for the development of young entrepreneurs in the state.

    This year’s celebration with the theme “Technical and Vocational Skills as a Gateway for Enterprise Development” held recently at NECA House in Alausa and attracted thousands of young people from the five technical colleges in the state, stakeholders from different sectors as well as government officials.

    The forum provided opportunity for the students to interact with successful entrepreneurs, while ten young people that excelled in youth-led businesses and other entrepreneurial pursuits were honoured by the state government.

    Some of the speakers at the events including President of McBride Research Laboratories, Mr. Cornell McBride; Chief Executive Officer of Ruff ‘n’ Tumble, Mrs. Adenike Ogunlesi and Founding Partner of Red Media Africa, Mr. Adebola Williams,who addressed the students shared their experience of rejection and success.

    Citing his own example, McBride emphasised the need for humility, saying this was what helped him in business and in life. He explained that he knew why he wanted to build a business empire that would outlive him. But he said he did not know how to do it.

    He acknowledged that he suffered a lot of disruption along the way and that in spite of what he went through, he did not resign to fate, but that his vision kept on driving him until he realised his ambition.

    “I had to do all kinds of odd jobs to make money. And I was proud of doing those odd jobs, even though I went into the US Army when I relocated to the New York at 24. I later went to College in order to hone my entrepreneurial skill. I am simply a product of humility.”

    Ogunlesi said that one other critical element, which she described as the cornerstone of every successful business was humility, urging the students that if they must build viable business empires, they must imbibe the spirit of professionalism that would require them to set rules and standards to guide the conduct of their business transaction.

    Ogunlesi told the story of her life, saying she was indifferent in her academic pursuit. She said even though she gained admission to undertake a law programme at Ahmadu Bello University, Congo Campus, she only managed to spend two weeks on the programme.

    Her reasons for quitting, she said, was not because she could not cope with the rigours of academic pursuit, but that she was pursuing what she had passion for rather than mere academic honours, adding that her passion gave birth to Ruff ‘n’ Tumble, now branded an indigenous firm with global appeal. According to her, the fact that she chose not to pursue her law degree did not make her an illiterate.

    Ogunlesi advised the graduating students to take advantage of the incentive which the state government had given to help realise their dreams and visions.

    Also, Adebola Williams, founding Partner of Red Media Africa encouraged the graduating students to rise up and position themselves as the country’s solution providers rather than liabilities. He said they do not have excuse not to succeed, citing the right platform and support that the state government has been giving through LASTVEB.

    Addressing the gathering, General Secretary Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB) Mr. Olawumi Gasper, said the programme was designed to develop a new generation of entrepreneurs.

    Gasper explained that the programme will also assist students of the state’s technical colleges on the need for competence-based education, adding that in the last five years, the technical colleges in the state have already imbibed the entrepreneurial culture as embedded in the curriculum of the technical colleges.

    He also noted that vocational skill trades are sufficiently infused with entrepreneurial elements that have harnessed the power of entrepreneurial competence.

    According to him, “in the past, emphasis was placed on knowledge, skills, qualities, attitude, innovation and creativity among students of the technical colleges in the state, thereby preparing them to become self-reliant and competitive in the new dynamic and globalised world.”

    He said the state’s entrepreneurship development project of the technical colleges alongside the chosen trade of the students “have no doubt contributed to job creation and acquisition of necessary skills by the graduates towards self-employment.  It is noteworthy that the private sector has been in support.

    “To produce high-quality competence with entrepreneurial and technical skills for economic growth, well being of society and creation of long term wealth for individuals. In training them, the spirit of entrepreneurship is continuously being infused into learning, enabling trainees to seek entrepreneurial opportunities leading to success.”

    Governor Fashola  who was represented by his Deputy Governor, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire said the government was not only developing the entrepreneurial capacity of the technical students, but had also put in place an arrangement for any graduate of its technical colleges “to access takeoff credit facility.”

    The governor said the loans “will be given to the students at single-digit interest rate. Aside, the students are not expected to provide any collateral except that they are not from any of the government owned colleges of education. That is one of the reasons for the establishment of Lagos State Micro Finance Institution (LASMI).”

    The take-off loan for the graduates of the state’s technical colleges will be processed through the LASMI while forms will be provided for the intended students at their various institutions to enable them apply. We have chosen to champion vocational and technical education because it focuses specifically on providing relevant skills while preparing them to be better positioned to develop new enterprises.

    “We have not departed from the position that technical and vocational education presents a complementary approach to general education. Our students are given the right opportunity to explore and identify potential career goals and are provided with the resources needed to achieve goals through technical partnership with industry stakeholders,” he added.

    Commissioner for Education, Olayinka Oladunjoye said: “Following the success of the first edition, the second edition is designed to celebrate legacies of successful entrepreneurs while also promoting immense opportunities in youth-led businesses and other entrepreneurial pursuits.”

    One of the students, Miss Mariam Sunday, who graduated from Government Technical College, Epe in Computer Craft, said listening to the various speakers have  renewed her spirit not to let go of her dream of becoming a great entrepreneur in the future.

    Also, Master Adeola Shobowale said “I came to the Enterprise Day confused, but I have hope now. My plan is to be an entrepreneur of global brand. This forum has equipped me with the necessary tips to realise my long-term dream.”

    He told The Nation that he had just completed his programme in electrical installation and engineering and also undergone training in FATE Foundation, which he said, has helped him to master the procedure of writing business plan.

    Shobowale said the next stage would be to start building his business and keep developing capacity in his area of specialization, which he said, would rank among the best in the next five years.

  • ITF closes unemployment gap

    Deputy Director, Industrial Skill Training Center (ISTC) of the Industrial Training Fund, (ITF), Mr. Olasupo James Abimbola, said the Fund’s priority on vocational training and skill acquisition has been helping to reduce unemployment and youth restiveness.

    He spoke in Lagos during the 3rd graduation ceremony of the ITF and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) Technical Skill Development Programme Batch four trainees.

    He noted that the ISTC which presently offers over eight categories of technical and vocational training in various areas was established with only three trade areas.

    According to him, the center presently offers technical and vocational training in information and communication technology, electrical installation and maintenance and mechanical maintenance.

    He listed other areas of specialized vocational and technical training to include welding and metal fabrication, refrigeration and air conditioning and instrumentation, process control and autotronics and auto mechanic work.

    He said the center has trained more than 2541 trainees in 239 programmes for 220 organisations in various categories of training.

    He explained the ITF-NECA technical skills development programme is a joint initiative of the ITF and NECA, pointing out the programme is designed to facilitate the availability of middle level manpower with appropriate technical and vocational skill to bridge the identified skill gap and meet the technical manpower of the Nigerian economy.

    The ISTC training manager said of particular importance is the fact that the graduating trainees have performed well in learning and character, and are worthy to be awarded the ITF-NECA certificate of competence in their chosen trade.

    To buttress the capability of technical and vocational training in solving the nation’s unemployment problem, Abimbola explained over 42 percent of the trainees graduating are already gainfully employed barely six months after the completion of their programme, while some were offered employment before the completion of their programme.

    The development, he noted further testifies to the quality of the ITF-NECA,adding another set of 50 training are currently preparing to embark on a three months mandatory industrial attachment at various organisations.

    He encouraged the graduands to make the most of the trainings and opportunities that has been offered them, saying the center will remain committed empowering youths with multi skills and entrepreneur skills for job and wealth creation.

  • ITF to cut down unemployment rate by 20%

    The Industrial Training Fund, ITF, has revealed on-going plans to slash the current rate of unemployment in the country which currently stands at about 23.9 per cent to around 3.5 per cent by training two million youths yearly under various strategic and collaborative platforms.

    The agency’s objective was disclosed to the media by its Director General, Dr. Juliet Chukkas Onaeko, in Lagos, where she noted that new strategies have been adopted to help deliver the agency’s mandate of generating an adequate pool of indigenous trained manpower to drive the nation’s economy.

    Onaeko pointed out that a situation where expatriates were invited to take up indigenous job positions because Nigerians lacked the requisite skills for those available jobs has become unacceptable and ITF was determined to bring an end to the negative trend.

    “We will first ascertain the specific gaps in the various sectors of industry to help us achieve 100 per cent job security for trainees. A lot of companies complain that our citizens lack requisite skills to be employed in their establishments we want to train and produce people who can fill these positions and at home and outside the country,” she said.

    According to her, Nigeria with a population of over 160 million basically made up of youths can afford to export professional labour in the soft skills sector after filling the available positions in existing industries in the country, however, for that to happen they must be trained, certified and equipped with relevant industrial and vocational skills.

    “With our universities graduating over one million youths every year, some of whom find it difficult to fit into the soft skills sector where most job opportunities are available, we have decided to provide the platform to further equip them with industry specific skills in collaboration with indigenous firms and international training partners to reduce the rate of unemployment to 3.5 per cent from where it is currently,” she said.

  • ‘Why agric is panacea to unemployment’

    OGUN State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has called for massive public and private investment in agriculture, saying this is the panacea to unemployment.

    Amosun spoke at the opening of a two-day Africa Investment 2014 Conference tagged, “Partner to Win” in Lagos

    He warned that the nation would continue to have huge unemployment crisis if it does not take advantage of its agricultural potential.

    He noted that agriculture is the only sector that can lead to industrialisation and get teeming youths engaged.

    The governor added that the value chains Agriculture offers could make the national economy manufacturing-based as against the service-based economy evident in the newly rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    “We will continue to have a huge unemployment crisis unless we take advantage of our agriculture which will lead to industrialisation. The kind of practice we are into in Ogun is not subsistent but mechanised farming that will get our teeming youths engaged and boost our economy. Our determination is to grow, process and add value.

    “We are opening up rural areas, including the long-stretch 110km road in Ogun West which cuts across four local government areas,” Amosun said.

    Highlighting the strides of his administration in its three years in office, Amosun said: “Everybody is in Ogun because we have been able to create a safe, conducive and enabling environment for businesses, which has made us the safest state in the country in three consecutive years.”

    The governor, at the conference where his Kogi counterpart, Idris Wada was among the dignitaries, said the introduction of Geographic Information System (GIS) by his administration had made land title documents easily accessible and wiped out the incidence of land speculators.

    “If you want to establish business in Ogun State, we will make sure you are done with all documents within 90 days,” Amosun assured.

  • Youth unemployment greatest test of our time, says UN

    Youth unemployment greatest test of our time, says UN

    United Nations  (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on governments to invest more in youth employment initiatives, stressing that youth unemployment is an epidemic that will present the world its greatest test of time.

    Ki-moon made the call during a visit to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

    He said: “In countries rich and poor, unemployment rates for young people are many times those of adults – and of course joblessness is the tip of the iceberg. Many are stuck in low wage work with no protection in the informal economy. Many others find that their schooling has not equipped them with the tools for today’s job market.“

    He said that the private sector was a key driver of job creation.

    He urged trade unions, employers’ organisations and businesses to empower more youth in your own structures and engage with youth-led organisations, adding that, trade unions have a fundamental role in promoting and protecting young workers’ rights.

    He said: “We need strong and innovative strategies, reaching out to specific groups, such as youth with disability and young women, and supporting youth to be job creators.”

    In his welcome address, ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder, thanked the Secretary-General for coming to the ILO despite the turbulent times.

  • Osun’s OYES initiative fights youth unemployment

    Osun’s OYES initiative fights youth unemployment

    Madam Emilia Bosede is 107-years-old. She lives on Palace Road, Ilerin-Ijesa, Osun State. She is extremely poor and moves around with a walking stick. In the traditional societies, families bear the burden of taking care of the aged. But in her case, there are no people to take care of her. Where she lives is a sore sight. She is one of the old folks that have been abandoned.

    There is also the case of Romanus Nkwongo, who has taken refuge under a dilapidated house along the same street. He has a current threat hanging on his life. After he lost two of his children, his wife left him. There are many cases of the elderly who have lost their children and are in a condition where they would almost beg for alms. They are unable to work and have no regular income or means of support.

    For many like Madam Emilia and Nkwongo, the sunset years of lives has turned out to be a traumatic period, in which they find themselves entirely dependent on families or friends due to the absence of a good social security system.

    Analysts point out that the aging population is constantly grappling with health issues, economic stress, family matters, uncertain living arrangements, gender disparities, urban-rural differences, displacement and slum-like living conditions. Years ago, traditional values and religious beliefs were quite supportive of elderly people. Today, economic hardship and the faltering nuclear family system are drastically eroding the support base of aged people.

    Experts have expressed the need for review of the area of social assistance and the treatment of vulnerable groups nation-wide as well as to develop appropriate plans to transform the management and provision of services to these groups.  There is growing interest on issues affecting the youth and elderly people within the informal economy.

    In this regard, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State has established so many social protection platforms.

    One of these is Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES) cadets which is a revolving volunteer scheme designed to eliminate the frustration and paralysing effect of high and seemingly intractable youth unemployment pervasive in the state and country at large.

    It aims at equipping as many young men and women with positive work ethics and culture, self sustenance, resourcefulness and respect for the environment. It is designed to develop youths with character and competence.

    OYES corps are deployed to productive services in identified areas of socio-economic life and paid a basic allowance to help cover basic needs. They are also kitted for group identity and high morale.

    Governor Aregbesola announced recently that the State Government had been committing about N200 million to pay allowances for the over 20,000 youths engaged in the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES).

    The governor remarked that the success of the programme attracted the attention of the World Bank, which studied it and certified it to be a viable and sustainable solution to the problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria and consequently recommended it to the Federal Government and other states in the country.

    The result, the governor said, is the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO) that was launched in Abuja.

    Aregbesola said O’YES has helped the state to manage unemployment rate to a considerable manner, stressing that the National Bureau of Statistics, in its publication rated Osun State to have the least unemployment rate.

    According to him, the Federal Government can help in eliminating the scourge of unemployment by matching the states.

    “With that, nobody can accuse you of favouring one state over the other. If the state employs or empowers 1,000 let the Federal Government also employ or empower 1,000. If the state can do 10,000 or 100,000 let the Federal Government match it with the same 10,000 or 100,000 and it is easier for Federal Government to do it,” he said.

    The governor stated that he is worried by the spate of insecurity in Nigeria, arguing that there can’t be a solution outside providing employment for the youth.

    He noted that the energy, vibrancy and creative talents that abound in young people are vital ingredients of development that only need to be properly channelled into productive engagement.

    He suggested that youths must be kept positively engaged by any government that is serious about the task of social and economic development.

    “Keeping young people meaningfully engaged is not only a sound economic policy; it is a sensible approach to good governance. For no effective or successful governance can take place where there is rampant unemployment among the youth,” he said.

    Using his state as an example of government intervention in youth empowerment, Aregbesola said the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (O’YES) became a very effective mechanism of massive public sector employment that offered not only income but great hope for the youth that are absorbed into the scheme.

    Speaking with our correspondent at the sidelines of a World Bank Training of Trainers on Community-based Targetting in Iloko-Ijesa, the Director-General of Bureau of Social Services (BOSS) and Head, State Operations Co-ordinating Unit for the Youth Empowerment Social Support Operation (YESSO) in Osun, Mr. Femi Ifaturoti said income security is one of the most urgent needs of the nation’s aging population.

    The situation, he added, is worsened by absence of effective measures at the national level to cushion people from risks of old age, sickness, disability and  unemployment, among others issues.

    Generally, schemes for the poor and vulnerable come with several conditions that are hard to meet. For instance, they are meant for those who are officially listed as living “below the poverty line” (BPL).

    Simply identifying the poor and vulnerable households and providing them with cash assistance, the BOSS D-G noted is insufficient to keep families out of poverty, adding that the state has adopted “graduation policies” that help activate the poor to enter into the labour market and other tailor-made social programmes.

    The lead trainer and World Bank Sector Leader, Human Development, Prof. Foluso Okumadewa said Nigeria is grappling with problems that result from high youth unemployment, adding that the presence of idle and unemployed youths pose a problem, even as the challenge is huge.

    He sees solution coming from Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO), funded through $300 million assistance by the World Bank.

    The project would commence in Cross River, Bauchi, Osun, Ekiti, Niger, Oyo and Kwara states for the Phase one of the community-based system.

     

  • Reducing unemployment via youth entrepreneurship

    Reducing unemployment via youth entrepreneurship

    Youth unemployment is on the rise in the country and it is a dangerous trend. Experts believe entrepreneurship will tackle the problem. This was the focus of the Youth Connect Programme held in Lagos, last week. Daniel Essiet, who was at the forum, reports.

    For  aspiring  entrepreneurs, a new dawn is here. For them, the ‘Youth Connect 2014 Forum’could not have come at a better time.

    Organised by Business Impact Limited and Strategy for  Mentoring Initiative and  Leadership Empowerment (SMILE), the forum  brought together successful entrepreneurs who are having a profound impact on uplifting and economically empowering women and men.

    The event, meant to bolster economic renewal, job creation and innovation through youth entrepreneurship, held at the University of Lagos.

    A motivational speaker at the ceremony, Fela Durotoye listed the  characteristics of an entrepreneur to include vision, hard work and focus.

    For him, one must be focused to be the best in the market. With a good vision and great execution, one’s  dreams can come true.

    He started his firm in the consulting industry.

    The crowning achievement of the consultancy is that by now his offer is very advanced and very interesting for potential clients. The main goal of the company is to be perceived as an efficient and goal-oriented consultancy, with the possibility of entering other markets.

    According to him, entrepreneurs need to be  open-minded, ready to  adapt to the market and the clients’ needs. One must maintain good relationships, be hard working, and ready to learn new things.

    The fundamentals that every entrepreneur should follow when starting a business is, start slow, take time and plan how to live the dream.

    According to him, young Nigerians are emerging as the greatest hope for renewed economic and social progress.

    Often struggling, he said a growing number of determined and innovative entrepreneurs are demonstrating they can have a positive impact on their communities.

    Durotoye said it was time  young people rose to achieve their full potential and shape the future with power and confidence.

    Durotoye said Nigerians need to think about more than employment to address this problem, adding that there are so many opportunities for young people to start their own businesses.

    For him, having started  early  set young  people  off on the most incredible journey to make  money.

    His advice: “When you are young, you have nothing to lose. No responsibilities, no mortgages, no  bills and literally everything you do will always be a step forward rather than a step back. So, if young people have an idea and what to get started, the only obstacle you face is you telling yourself that you can do it.”

    He  stressed the need for creativity among youths and pupils  to transform the economy and create jobs.

    Durotoye believes the younger a person gets to set up a business and see opportunities that are outside the norm of society, they will be considered different and extraordinary.

    His advice to young entrepreneurs is that they should begin to build their competencies while in the university and specialise their business so they can take it to scale.

    Chief Executive, Business Impact Limited, Mr Olatunde Samson,  said the forum was created to engage leaders in youth entrepreneurship, share best practices, affect positive policy change and create a network of young entrepreneur advocates.

    He  said it was to prepare  young people to productive and engaged citizens.

    At this critical point of the economy, he said young people need to deploy their unique talents and innovative ideas to address their nation’s challenges, urging the government to support young people  access opportunities to realise their potential and revitalise their communities.

    With nearly 45 per cent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population  under  15, and that youthful population will not even peaking for another 15 years, he noted a lot of youths wouldn’t be able to find a job, and many more who are working unable to climb out of poverty.

    He reiterated that there’s also an ever-growing band of young entrepreneurs who are demonstrating that when given the chance, even those from the most marginalised communities can launch their own businesses and in the process, create jobs, and help fuel growth and progress in their communities.

    With nation looking for an effective response to the economic  crisis, the Founder, SMILE, Mrs. Bimpe Martins,  said  youths  could  stand up, to promote a new entrepreneurial spirit, develop sustainable businesses, to massively create new, quality jobs.

    To her, supporting women entrepreneurs to further grow their business is key to positively impacting the country on both social and economic levels.

  • Establish entrepreneurial varsities

    Establish entrepreneurial varsities

    THE solution to the critical unemployment problem, which is one of the greatest threats to our security, is not only to attract industrial investment and advanced technology in manufacturing, but to establish entrepreneurial and technical universities.

    These will be equipped with relevant facilities that can produce practical entrepreneurs who will further create employment opportunities by establishing their own ventures.

    The Ministry of Education should urgently look into this proposal in the interest of our country.

    John Dega,

  • Unemployment: FG seeks collaboration of all tiers of government

    Unemployment: FG seeks collaboration of all tiers of government

    The Federal Government over the weekend reiterated the need for collaboration among all tiers of government to tackle unemployment in the country.

    Amb. Bashir Yuguda, Minister of Works and Supervising Minister of National Planning, made the call at the 12th National Council on Development Planning (NCDP) meeting in Bauchi.

    Yuguda stressed the need for all tiers of government to jointly initiate policies towards creating employment opportunities for Nigeria’s large population of youths.

    According to him, to drive sustainable economic growth, Nigeria must focus on ways to expand job opportunities for young people.

    He said that addressing unemployment required multiple strategies such as substantial investment in national education system and technical and vocational training to improve business environment.

    “There is, therefore, a need for cooperation among all tiers of government to achieve our desired vision.

    “The Federal Government cannot do it alone; neither can the states and local governments.

    “We all need to work together to achieve our common goals and aspirations.

    “The experiences of countries like Australia, Malaysia and Brazil have shown that their tiers of government have complemented each other in attaining their current status,” he said.

    Yuguda said that to prevent unemployment generating severe social tension, no government in a democratic setting could afford to ignore large sections of non-working population.

    “As such we, must work together to reduce the high rate of unemployment among our youths; tackle income inequality.”

    He explained that the NCDP was one of the key statutory bodies constituted to facilitate and coordinate the economic development process at the federal and sub-national levels.

    According to him, members of the council included the Minister of National Planning, as Deputy Chairman, the National Planning Commission, and commissioners responsible for economic planning.

    He said that the Council meets annually to discuss and agree on strategies for deepening economic governance at sub-national levels.

    He added that the meeting provided opportunity to brainstorm on the optimal approach towards effective implementation of states’ strategic plans for Vision 20:2020.

    The minister said that the theme of the 2014 meeting was: “National Strategic Planning for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development: Fostering Job Creation and Equity”.

    He said that the theme aptly reflected a collective aspiration to significantly improve the standard of living of the Nigerian populace.

    In his speech, Gov. Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State, noted that the theme reflected the fact that development planning provides a veritable platform for transformation of a nation.

    The governor who was represented by his deputy, Malam Sagir Saleh, said the rate of unemployment was top on the agenda in national and global debate on development.

    He added that the magnitude of these challenges had made collaboration at all levels central to evolve new strategies of dealing with them.

    Earlier, Mr Ntufam Ugbo, Secretary, National Planning Commission, said the meeting would come up with a workable synergy to reposition Nigeria as a top 20 economy in the world by year 2020.

    “The synergy would enable stakeholders fashion out ways to move not only our country forward, but all the states of the federation in our match towards making a better society,” he said.