The Nation Newspaper

Tag: youth

  • Youth sport development

    The development of sport cannot be complete without an understanding of the role of youths in the total process. This is so because the potential of sport as a vehicle for national cohesion and development cannot be over emphasized. In Nigeria, we are blessed with talented youths in the field of sport, however, these youths require a comprehensive sport development programme that will enable them to develop their God-given potentials to the fullest.

    The development of youth oriented programmes in sport is fundamental towards promoting the sporting culture amongst young people in Nigeria. This will further decrease the crime rate among idle youths in the country. There is the need for Nigeria’s sport managers to develop comprehensive youth identification and enlistment sport programmes that will help provide the needed athletes for the nation’s sport federations.

    We must not lose sight of the potential of sport as a vehicle for addressing unemployment among Nigerian youths. Sport, when properly organized and managed, can serve as an economic catalyst for any nation. Let’s do an analysis of what it entails and how we can meaningfully engage the youths in sporting programmes.

    There are talented youths in Nigeria and all they require is for there to be designed sport programmes that will meaningfully engage them either as athletes or players in the case of football which is the most popular sport in Nigeria. We need to have sport centres at local government level and encourage the youths to use such centres effectively.

    A careful observer travelling across the country will notice that young Nigerians have so much love for sport but are unable to engage in sporting activities of their choice because of inadequate facilities across the country. Most schools in Nigeria lack the facilities and personnel to introduce the youth to sports. Such facilities are scarce and not found at schools and sport councils.

    The danger of youths developing without exposure to healthy living through active participation in exercise and sports cannot be overemphasized. As the saying goes, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, and as such it is instructive to note that whereas other countries around the world are busy concretizing organizational strategies to interest their youths in sport participation, we are still far from developing viable programmes that will attract our youths and endear them to sports.

    This calls for serious reflection considering the rapidly increasing numerical strength of young people in Nigeria. Let me also say that there is no industry that can accommodate all interests among the youths like the sport industry, and the reason is very simple. It’s either we find the youth as an active athlete, or as an active supporter. Either as an active official, or as an active sport promoter, to mention a few.

    GETTING YOUTHS INVOLVED IN SPORT

    It is imperative that we also look at the critical components that are needed if we want to get youths involved in sport. Firstly, there is the need for the construction of proper sport arenas and such arenas or complex should be fully equipped with the right sport equipment. Also, there is the need for properly trained coaches to introduce youths to different sports and allow them discover their interests and develop their skills.

    Also, a national policy must be introduced that all schools must develop sport facilities and employ qualified sport teachers who should be graduates of Physical and Health Education and can double as PE Teachers or Sport Coaches.

    For youths in the community but not previledged to be in an organized school setting, they should also be accommodated through comprehensive and robust sport programmes to be organized and facilitated by the various state sports councils and ministries of sports, thus, their interest will also be accommodated and their talents harnessed for the general good of all.

    BENEFITS OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN SPORT

    The benefits of youth participation in sport are too numerous to mention. Apart from the laurels that we have been able to secure through the participation of our youths in sports, there is an economic angle to it because many young people from humble backgrounds have been able to find their feet and make good use of the economic vehicle that sport provides to improve themselves and their families.

    Nigeria today can boast of many legends in sport and most of those legends began their journey to greatness at a young age, therefore it is advantageous to encourage youths to participate in sports for their own good and the general good of the nation.

  • Nigeria @ 100: What hope for the youth?

    On January 14, this year, Nigeria attained 100 years of existence. One hundred years in which its people have lived together as one howbeit reluctantly and the federal government of Nigeria had rolled out the drums to celebrate such a ‘historical feat’. The union called ‘Nigeria’, which was unceremoniously solemnised by the British colony with their own agenda uppermost in their minds, has weathered the storm to be where it is today.

    However, 100 years down the line, could we possibly say that we are close to our destination? Have we fared better together in the last 100 years? What hope for the future generations? Why all the in-fighting? Are we celebrating only our togetherness at the expense of our peace?

    While these and many more questions beg for answers, the journey into another 100 years is clouded by uncertainty. On a yearly basis, Nigeria has continued to plummet in many sectors of the economy as predicted by expert agencies. For instance, the Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC), a Lagos-based financial advisory firm, stated that the unemployment rate is expected to increase further by about two per cent up from the current 23.9 per cent. According to the same report, external reserve is expected to deplete further to $40 million while recurrent expenditure is projected to increase to 72.71 per cent of total government spending.

    Thus, at the start of a new century of existence, the country is already battling with over a century of spill over challenges from the previous century and this is not in any way a good omen for the leaders of tomorrow and indeed the nation at large.

    An overview of the achievement of the country in the last century leaves much to be desired. Apart from the togetherness of a largely heterogeneous people, there is hardly any other strong indication that the marriage of the Southern and Northern protectorate in 1914 championed by Sir Lord Lugard is blissful.

    At 100 years, Nigeria is one of the world’s poorest countries, with the majority of the population living on less than $1 per day, despite the fact that Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest exporters of crude oil.

    At 100, even though we are the 9th largest producer of crude oil in the world, yet we pay heavily for its purchase and even experience scarcity of the products. At 100 years, petrol and fuel are said to be subsidised yet it is barely affordable for the average Nigerian that lives on approximately 1 dollar a day while a few opportunist at the corridors of powers are feeding fat from such subsidies. At 100 years, Nigerian youths are roaming the streets as a result of a growing unemployment. Youth restiveness is geometrically on the increase. The result of this is evident in all the crises besetting the country at the moment.

    Perhaps, the major challenge of this new century is the direction in which the leaders of tomorrow are headed. Majority of the social vices besetting the country today are perpetrated by youths. Youths who have been overly neglected by successive governments in terms of their well-being. Youths, who have been misled by the ruling class and used as veritable instruments in the achievement of selfish objectives and abandoned after the achievement of those selfish goals.

    At 100, Nigerian youths of this new century cannot be compared to youths before amalgamation and attainment of independence. Nigerian youths immediately after amalgamation were concerned with championing the cause of independence. The likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, Agunyi Ironsi etc devoted their lives to the creation of the Nigerian state. After the attainment of independence, they became agents of change and ensured that they put the country in the right direction of greatness.

    However, the story has changed. Successive youths after the attainment of independence have refused to lay solid foundations for youths after them as it was laid for them and this resulted in poor developmental activities and the likes in the country. This also led to the struggle for survival by successive youths and the desire to acquire wealth and become rich irrespective of the methods employed in acquiring such wealth. The result is the complete neglect of a hitherto progressive state.

    At 100, almost one in every four Nigerian youth that is willing, able and capable to work is unemployed yet it is expected that these crop of youths will spearhead a new Nigeria where justice, fairness and equity stands supreme.

    If, at 100 years, a father still cannot walk on its two feet and is still crawling, then it behooves on the children to fend for them and refuse to crawl at their old age like their father. It is high time that the youths of this present dispensation came together and put together a workable blue print that would tackle this mirage called unemployment that is currently ravaging our beloved country. Corruption in high places would not allow governmental plans concerning its citizenry to work hence people of like minds are needed to come together and work as a team to proffer solutions to the problems facing the youths and the society in general.

    We must rise to the challenge of freeing this generation and century from the ills of the society. We must borrow a leaf from those who struggled for the independence of Nigeria and fought to make Nigeria the best among its equals. Their dream must not die. We cannot sell the future of generations yet unborn for peanuts like the current crop of leaders have done for we have active consciences that pricks us and motivates us to do exploit. The time to save our country is now for a stitch in time, saves nine.

  • Youth authors book on values

    A youth, Chris Oshundun, has written a book entitled: An orientation course in national values: An urban innovative version.

    The author said the work was aimed at promoting national rebirth. He highlighted different approaches to national transformation in any country, saying there was need in value re-orientation among individuals and groups.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, Oshundun said the publication was his own way of contributing to effective leadership.

    “It is our own way of contributing to the leadership of this nation. It is a tool for change, as well as a challenge to the government. The major focus of the project is infusing civic, social and ethical values into the national values. I believe that when there are national values, then there will be changes to our approach to certain issues and our ultimate goal is to seek the support of all stakeholders to play their own role” he added.

    He said the book was motivated by the Nigeria Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) curriculum.

    “Having done our own part, we want people to help promote it. If corruption is to stop, then there should be a change to what people believe in. What you believe in determines what drives you and that will influence your actions, “he said.

    The writer explained that most of the problems faced by the nation today emanated from the home front. saying “many parents,  for economic reasons, do not have enough time for their children. If this book is introduced to schools, it will be an extension of the home, especially with the moral aspect of it.”

    He stated that when a child lacked social values, they become a threat to the society.

    “The state of a nation, to me, is the reflection of our value system. So aside the government and schools, even religious groups would benefit from the ideas in this book. It will be a complement to what religious leaders have been doing. If they can integrate these values into their preaching, then it would in turn help to contribute greatly to the society,” he said.

  • Martinez to look at youth again

    Everton coach Roberto Martinez will look to youth again in pre-season as he aims to identify the next crop of talented youngsters.

    Tyias Browning, Luke Garbutt, John Lundstram, Chris Long and Matthew Kennedy – all 21 or under – won selection in Everton’s first-team squad for a pre-season trip to Austria.

    After bringing the likes of Ross Barkley and John Stones through last term, Martinez is keen to step up the club’s youth development and has been closely monitoring the progress of the quintet for the last year.

    “We have five young players whose programme we’ve been following closely since we set them out 12 months ago,” he told Everton’s official website.

    “They’ve been out on loan and working in the first team environment and they’ve done that very well.

    “We’ve got Tyias Browning, Luke Garbutt, John Lundstram, Chris Long and Matthew Kennedy. We’ve been trying to develop them and they deserve an opportunity.

    “We want to see how they react in the first team, how close they are to being ready – like John Stones and Ross Barkley were last season.

    “Last year, they [Stones and Barkley] did well in pre-season, showed really high standards and that they were ready so that’s going to be the case at Everton.

    “It’s exciting to see that young and ambitious talent coming through and we need to see if they are ready to help the team and if they are ready to be a part of it.”

    Everton open their Premier League campaign at Leicester City on August 16.

  • Nembe City won’t underate Ibom Youth

    Nembe City FC, Spokeman Gbenga Adeleye has said their Federation Cup Round of 32 game against Ibom Youth on today will be treated with all seriousness.

    The Kala Eku Lema Boys booked their passage to the round of 32 following a 2-0 victory over CBN Cashless of Jigawa in the round of 64 tie played at the Emmanuel Atongo Stadium, Katsina Ala last  Wednesday.

    Adeleye told SportingLife that his side are in the right frame of mind to take on Ibom Youth and progress to the next stage of the competition. “We won’t underate Ibom Youth but I am optimistic we will go through at the end of the game.        “Our players are in high spirit and ready to take on the Akwa Ibom based team. We are well prepared and I think nothing can stop us because we want to write our name in gold at the end.

    “After our return from Katsina Ala, the technical crew and players went into close camping to perfect strategies. The confidence level in the team is high, our target is to clinch the Federation Cup,”Adeleye told SportingLife.

  • Youth market as beautiful bride

    Youth market as beautiful bride

    In those days, manufacturers, bankers and others did not attach much importance to the youth market, also called the Gen-Next. However, this perception has changed. To drive growth, top brands have realised how vital this market is to their brands’ sustainability, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    Before now, practitioners in banking, telecoms, FCMGs and other sectors held in high esteem the older generation of consumers more than the youth, also referred to as Generation Next.

    There is a reason for this.The older people are believed to be the decision makers of purchases, and over the years, many brands rode on their shoulders to gain greater brand equity and market share.

    But gradually, the tide is moving as brands are beginning to eye the Generation Next to position for future competition.

    “Parents believe giving teens access to phones could make them lose concentration in school while giving them access to operate a bank account sounds bad despite that in the olden days parents encouraged their children to save through the mould box approach.

    “Now, brand managers are targeting this group. Banks are designing products for them, telecoms are designing trendy offerings that appeal to them and they are becoming important in brand strategy crafting,” a brand expert said.

    This development is becoming more apparent in the banking and telecoms sector, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), where they have carried the youth along in their products and communications. For instance, Coca-Cola, Cadbury and Amazon have been named the most effective brands targeting the youth market both online and offline.

    In a research by VCCP’s new youth agency, Rough Hill, 60 per cent of young people use Cadbury, while 34 per cent follow the brand online. For Amazon, 58 per cent of people use the brand, 33 per cent of them follow it online; also, 59 per cent of young people use the Coca-Cola brand regularly, while 31 per cent follow it online. Hence, their product is tailored to this market unlike banking, telecoms whose products seem to prefer the older people’s market.

    But stung by their failure to recognise the Generation Next market, brands within the banking and telecoms sector are taking the youth market more serious than ever before. The growth of the segment in a larger number and their diverse, individualistic trait has made them no more vulnerable to decisions of the older generation. Hence, marketers are aiming at this market frequently.

    Shockingly, an old generation bank, regarded as one of the ‘Big Three’ has announced its marketing and communication plan for the youth after years of sustained brand equity among corporate and big purse customers. The bank, UBA, long before its merger with STB, was known as an ‘old school bank’, perhaps a reference to its leaning to the older generation.

    But after the merger, The Nation observed that it assumed another perception as a bank meant for the big purse, individual and corporate, leading innovation among the top tier banks.

    “When I couldn’t cope with the bank again, I had to drop it for a new generation bank. I discovered that it was chasing mainly big accounts and not youths like us,” Sumbo Awoyemi, an undergraduate lamented.

    But to avoid losing the youth market, UBA has offered a new window for the Generation Next. During the launch of a new product called a ‘Next-Gen’ account, no doubt, an effort to re-invent and build a new generation of loyal customers, the bank described ‘Next Gen’ as a product tailored to meet the unique needs of teenagers and young adults. The bank, however, added that it was introduced to offer special privileges and opportunities to account holders.

    The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Phillips Oduoza, said: “Next Gen is about capturing and engaging the next generation of educated and enlightened professionals, employees, entrepreneurs, self-employed persons, from all walks of life, early in their financial life cycle.”

    The UBA Next-Gen Account was designed to appeal to the educated and enlightened teenagers and young adults from 13 to 34.The product comes with features that fit into the unique needs of customers based on their age.

    “This is a product that grows with the customer from his or her teenage years to, when he or she becomes a young adult. Next Gen is unique in the banking industry because it is not really a product. It is a partnership where the bank is taking on a mentorship role to guide customers into a future life of prosperity, Olaloku explained.

    He also said the Next Gen account was designed to take care of every young person’s unique needs from 13 to 34.

    “It takes care of the unique needs of teenage customers when they are in secondary school through university to when they get their first job, start a family and even consider building their first house. At each of these critical stages in their lives, the Next Gen account provides financial options and opportunities to make life more comfortable for them and their family.”

    On the unique features of the Next Gen account, the Head, Current Accounts and Credit Products, UBA Plc, Iyke Idukpaye, explained that teenagers who open the account will become part of the UBA Teen Fan Club, which offers great opportunities and networking.

    He also explained that as teenagers with a Next Gen account grow and gain admission into tertiary institutions, they will enjoy great mentorship, internships and career advisory reserved only for account holders.

    The benefits of being a Next Gen account holder extends further as owners graduate and prepare for the work or business. At this stage, account holders will enjoy exclusive invitations to job and career fairs as well as entrepreneurship workshops, he added.

    Aside marketing and advertising support, the bank invited students from various secondary and tertiary institutions to attend the launch. Aina Oyawande, a student of University of Lagos, com- mended UBA for introducing the product. He said the incentives attached will make her open an account with the bank.

    Falz, a musician, who addressed the students on the need to imbibe a savings culture, described Next Gen as a “great initiative”, which will attract young entrepreneurs like him to open an account with UBA.

    Also, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, of big brother fame called the product “innovative”, adding that it was great that UBA has developed such an incentive packed product for youths.

  • 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.

  • Agony of the youth

    Agony of the youth

    It is over four years now that I was admitted into the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS). When the list of admitted students came out, my dad called me and advised me on how to behave in school.

    He told me never to play with my studies. I still remember those words: “Suffer for four years and enjoy forever.” I could understand the mood of my father; I know he wanted me to study hard so that I can come off in flying colours at the end of four years. He wanted me to get good grades and graduate with a first class or a second class (Upper Division).

    Each time I went home for holiday, my father would always remind me of his admonition. He would say whatever inconvenience one faces during a sojourn should be borne gallantly, because inconvenience would be compensated in the end. He would say when one gets a good grade, he would be rewarded by lucrative employment, which would make him enjoy good things of life.

    The current situation in the country is discouraging to assert that my fathers’ advice isn’t genuine, given the fate of millions of youths still roaming the street with First Class and Second Class is a case study.

    The other day, I came across an advert in Lagos, requesting for a sales boy or girl. But to the surprise of many, the advert requested a university degree as the minimum qualification for applicants. Then, it dawned on me the decline of university certificate.

    More nauseating is the ordeal of some graduates, who graduated five year before I gained admission. No job; they roam the street to look for their daily bread. They are yet to ‘enjoy’ the product of their good grades. Should I say my father read the situation wrongly?

    A lot of brilliant, smart, hardworking and ambitious youths abound in this country but the nation does not give them opportunity to unleash their potentials. What is their crime? The extreme corruption in the country has not only weakened their resolve to aim for the best, it has also changed their mentality and destroyed their hopes.

    The $20 billion allegedly disappeared from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) can provide millions of jobs for the youth with great return. The funds could help graduates to access loan to start medium scale businesses to become Michael Zuckerbergs of this world. But do the people who knew one thing or the other about the missing funds concern?

    Many young people have lofty dreams and aspirations to conquer the world of innovation and become the next Bill Gate in accomplishing something that would affect the world and perhaps put the country on the world map.

    As a student of Zoology, I wished to conquer the animal world, explore the world of parasites causing illness to human being. I dreamt to proffer lasting solution spread of endemic parasitic infection such as malaria, onchocariasis, trypanosomiasis and the likes but my country does not support the dream.

    There is totally absence of advance technology to make me excel if I had embarked on the research. In fact, I never operate an electron microscope as students of Zoology. My hope of becoming a world-class researcher is slim.

    Today, I wonder what a 20-year-old Nigerian can create. From all indications, particularly from our decayed education system and defected governance system, it appears to me that Nigeria is the Siberia for the genius. It has resources to be the dreamland of academics and researchers, but its leadership has failed to create a viable environment to promote innovation and enterprise.

    Despite criticism of young people in Nigeria, most of them are hardworking, but they are rarely getting reward for their effort. What makes the situation in Nigeria sadder and pitiful is the constant and seemingly endless report of corruption from high places; leaders siphoning public funds and getting away with it. This is killing the spirit of hard work in young people.

    A former governor stole billions and was handed a two years sentence. He received a state pardon and return to government. A serving minister was alleged to have used billions of taxpayers’ money to purchase private jet in a country where millions live below $1 per day. She still sits magisterially and bark out orders.

    Young people can just groan like a toothless dog. It appears we don’t even have a voice to challenge these people. More painful is the fact that we don’t have trust in getting justice from a lopsided judicial system. Who will help young people of Nigeria from this cycle of corrupt leaders?

     

    Ibrahim, 400-Level Zoology, UDUS

  • ITF trains 1,000 Kebbi youths

    ITF trains 1,000 Kebbi youths

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has flagged off the training of 1,000 Kebbi youths in skill acquisition. The skills include carpentry, fish farming and domestic electrification. The programme aims at reducing unemployment among the youth.

    Speaking at the flag-off ceremony at the Haliru Abdul Stadium in Birnin Kebbi, Alhaji Usman Mohammad Sani, the Area Manager of Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in charge of Sokoto and Kebbi states who represented the Director-General, said the programme has been successfully carried out in 23 states  including Abuja, adding that  23,000 youths have so far been trained.

    He added that the programme will cover 13 states and each of the participating youths will receive a monthly allowance of N5,000.

    The trainees would be spread across the three designated training centres in the state.

    ‘’The aim is to eliminate youth restiveness and empower them by building their capacity in order to be self-reliant and serve as avenue for manpower generation,” he said.

    Also speaking, the Kebbi State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim K. Aliyu expressed the state government’s willingness to partner with ITF to adress the current youth unemployment in the state.

    The Deputy Governor expressed his optimism that the programme will help in tackling unemployment, particularly among the youth and will also take away youths off the street by engaging them in technical vocation skills necessary for self-reliance.

  • Jobs hopes for Imo youths

    Jobs hopes for Imo youths

    Over 400 youths from Imo State gathered at the Links Hotel, Owerri, on May 17 for a workshop on entrepreneurship. The workshop was part of the activities lined up for the formal inauguration of the Chuka Odom Foundation, a non-governmental organisation established by Chief Chuka Julius Odom, former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory. ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE reports.

    The presence of several prominent personalities from Imo State, among them the erudite scholar and social communicator, Professor Anya O. Anya, who led two other scholars, Professor Placid Njoku, former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State and now President, the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science as well as Mr. Ugochukwu Omeogu, Principal Partner of Lagos-based Joseph Consulting and Marketing Limited, added colour to an event meant to give Imo youths a new sense of direction.

    Coming against the backdrop of the clamour for the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths to drop their search for white collar jobs, and be job creators, the workshop presented the participants with a guideline for developing the right attitude towards self employment.

    The workshop had a single mandate- to bridge the “skills gap,” which experts say, is principally responsible for the mass unemployment in the country and it succeeded in priming the youths to fill this gap. The former Minister, Chief Odom, who was one of the facilitators, gave a simple definition of “skills gap” to mean “the difference between skills required for a job or venture versus skills possessed by a prospective worker.” He said one of the major causes of the massive unemployment is that majority do not possess the skills needed for the jobs that are available.

    Participants located the initial problem to be some youths considering the available jobs as “menial” and far below their academic attainments. The workshop agreed that whereas young university undergraduates in the Southeast find it difficult to learn skills for trades like auto mechanics and electrical, building and construction technology, electronic and electrical installations, barbing and hair salons, farming etc, these vocations remain quite popular in the area and skills on them in great demand.

    One of the resource persons, Professor Njoku, put the matter in proper perspective when he posed some rhetorical questions before the youths: “What did you read in school? What are doing now? What would you like to do? What skills other than formal college certificate training do you have?” Professor Njoku pointed out that this mismatch of “possessed skills” and “required skills” has led to what he described as “wasting energy” among young people as a result of which there now exist pervasive social vices, human capital loss and economic losses.

    Njoku then brought in the experiences of other countries on this matter and what they did to tackle the problem. In countries like Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, India and China, he told the audience,

    the problem was tackled in three major ways: retuning the capacity of unemployed youths and under-employed adults; changing of school curricula from single academic model to dual academic model (academic and vocational models); guided enrolment in favour of the Dual Model. In Germany and Brazil, for example, the guided Dual Model was as follows: 30 per cent academic; 70 percent vocational and in Brazil 32 percent academic, 68 percent vocational.

    Njoku pointed out that the result of the dual model was that while the Academic Mode led to 4 – 8 per cent unemployment, the vocational model led to as low as 0 – 1 per cent unemployment.

    He said it may take governments in Nigeria some time to effect the necessary changes in the school curricula for these models to be in place.

    In the meantime, the problem will continue to mount. This is where organisations like the Chuka Odom Foundation come in. According to the former Minister of State, the foundation intends to approach its programme for fighting mass unemployment through two major prongs, namely, graduate up-skilling and technical and vocational apprenticeship. Here, the organisation, according to Chief Odom, “shall adopt world class competency modelling” among which are the following steps: competency mapping, skills gap analysis, skills development and competency monitoring.

    The ultimate objective of the intervention, Odom says, will be to prepare the youths for entrepreneurship and wealth creation. “We believe that entrepreneurship in itself can drive employment through innovation and creation of ventures that provide avenues for further

    employment and birth of new industries…”, Odom told the participants.

    Njoku agrees. “Skills training, entrepreneur development and management training for capacity re-tuning gives young people an alternative life sustaining career,” he told the audience. Njoku, who

    supervised the Federal Governments’ “Out-of-School Boy Child Project,” in the Southeast and Southsouth a few years ago, then put it more succinctly before the youths who listened with rapt attention: “…It’s important for each of us to map out a personal survival strategy. The most viable and respectful survival strategy is to embrace entrepreneurship,” Njoku told the youths.

    Management whizkid and motivational speaker, Ugochukwu Omeogu, himself a youth, gladdened the hearts of the participants a great deal with his presentation which, while harping on the imperatives of retuning, gave practical examples with his personal experiences.

    He gave the rather hilarious story of his having to learn American phonetics, when he newly arrived in the U.S, in order to enhance his skill for job searching. In a rather touchy account, Ugochukwu who walks on crutches, told his fellow youths that with a degree from a Nigerian University, nobody gave him any chance of getting a job in the U.S, when there were hundreds of American-trained graduates competing with him. But by the time he brushed up his skills which included improving his diction, he bagged a job with one of the biggest banking groups in the U.S, J.P Morgan. He now told his fellow youths. “There is nothing impossible for you once you are determined”.

    But, all that would not have sank into the minds of the youth if the main resource person and chairman of the occasion, Prof. Anya O. Anya had not first embarked on a brief orientation talk for the youth. The thrust of Anya’s talk was for the Imo youths to first situate the cultural context in which they seek to improve their lot.

    Anya told the youths that they are first and foremost Igbo who are known for enterprise and indeed entrepreneurship.

    He went down the memory lane to tell the youths that their parents were among the best in the country and that they should not allow the present economic and social conditions to detract them from living up to the ideals (of independence and enterprise) for which the Igbo are known.

    It was not a one-sided affair, however. The young men and women, apart from paying great attention to the speakers, participated actively especially during the question and answer session. Perhaps to the surprise of their teachers, the youths exhibited a good grasp of the issues at hand. Though some also showed the usual traces of impatience that are known among young people, the general comportment was that of a crop of young men and women who are ready to be shown the way for bettering their lives. They were both eager and anxious. Naturally, some made reservations over government’s attitude to the issue of unemployment and general social decadence.

    To this, Chief Odom advices that, “…this is no time to apportion blames or point accusing fingers. We have been doing that for a long time and nothing has changed…” It is easy to view Odom’s advice as one coming from an establishment man. But he has shown a difference. His initiative with the Chuka Odom Foundation, which focuses on eradicating unemployment among the youths in Imo state, may well be blazing a trail.