The Nation Newspaper

Tag: youths

  • Gombe youths oppose ministerial nominee

    •’Her nomination okay’

    The plan to appoint Hajiya Amina Ibrahim Azubir as a minister from Gombe State has attracted criticisms.

    A youth group, the Youth Salvation Awareness Forum, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to appoint her.

    The group’s coordinator and spokesman, Abubakar Umar, said: “It is very disheartening that Amina Azubir was not part and parcel of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its development in this state.

    “She is not a card-carrying member of the APC. She has not contributed to the success of this government. So, it is surprising and ridiculous to hear that she is to be appointed a minister.”

    He said the list of ministerial nominees showed that 95 per cent of them were card-carrying members of the APC in other states, wondering why Gombe was an exception.

    Umar said: “If it is the issue of credibility, I think there are people more credible and capable than Amina.

    “Many APC members suffered for the party. This is the time for them to reap the fruits of their labour.”

    He enjoined President Buhari to consider the growth of the APC in making appointments, to ensure the party has a solid foundation.

    The Special Adviser to Dr. Orji Kalu, Prince Kunle Oyewumi, has hailed President Buhari for  nominating Amina, the special adviser on Post -2015 Development Planning to the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Kin- Moon, as a member of the Federal Executive Council. He said her character and profile were a testament to her commitment to good governance and the country’s progress.

    Oyewumi, a one-time special adviser on Millennium Developments Goals (MDGS) to the Oyo State Government, said Amina was a seasoned development expert, stressing that she would bring to bear, her cross-border administrative experience, if appointed a minister.

  • Youths and struggle for relevance

    Youths and struggle for relevance

    SIR: The recent unveiling of the much-awaited ministerial list of President Muhammadu Buhari has generated much controversy as much as the waiting. The issue that is of concern to me as a youth is the brouhaha about the marginalisation and non-inclusion  of the vibrant Nigerian youths whose contribution to national development and political advancement of the nation is undeniable.

    Obviously the non-inclusion of the youths on the list cannot be justified by whatever reasons because the youths of this nation have proved beyond reasonable doubt their capacity and capabilities to contribute meaningfully to national development as available records of achievements has shown that the youths of this country both in the private and public sector as well as at national and global stage are resourceful.

    But as much as we want to criticize the Presidency for this inexcusable neglect of the youth, it is important to remind the youths that the much awaited tomorrow which they are the leader may never come if we continue to be a tool in the hands of politicians and political jobbers as instruments for winning elections, while also justifying wrong acts because of ethno religious sentiments.

    According to Robert Nef: “Those who nourish the hope that it will be possible to keep central government free of the corrupt tendencies of power and to staff it with a freedom-loving elite, overestimate the virtues of both the electorate and the elected, and underestimate the normative power of structural processes even over well-intended functionaries”.

    I want to use this medium to remind fellow youths who shared the same emotion of marginalisation and grave betrayal of the youths of this nation by the ruling class who have held sway to position of leadership for decades and denied the youths of their tomorrow, that freedom is never given; it is taken and with the practice of democracy in Nigeria, the youth has the power through unity of purpose, active participation and the ballot box to cause a change and take their rightful position in the political arena of the country.

    “Individual liberty is individual power, and as the power of a community is a mass compound of individual powers, the nation which enjoys the most freedom must necessarily be in proportion to its numbers the most powerful nation”. John Quincy Adams

     

    • Akintunde Martins

    Abuja.

     

  • Fed Govt targets 30,000 youths through agric

    As part of its commitment to the promotion of decent income generation and livelihood for Nigerian Youth, the Federal Government, through the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP), has commenced the empowerment of 30,000 youths in area-based priority value chains.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,  Sonny Echono, made this known, during a meeting with stakeholders in the poultry industry at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja.

    He said the ministry received about 34,000 applications from intending agropreneurs and market oriented producers from 12 participating states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). He said a total of 250 agropreneurs would be selected per state including FCT under the first phase of the programme.

    He explained that the validation and final selection of the young agropreneurs and market oriented producers would be done at state levels in collaboration with the ministry’s state directors; training would also be conducted for the beneficiaries at various credible agricultural and research institutions, universities and other vocational training institutions across Nigeria.

    Echono listed the participating states to include Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kastina, Lagos, Niger, Ogun as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The beneficiaries, according to the Permanent Secretary, would  be trained in various value chains, including rice, aquaculture, poultry, maize, tomato, wheat, sorghum, apiculture, soya bean, cassava, groundnut, oil palm, snailry, grass cutter  and multiple value chains, such as welding and fabrication, repairs and maintenance.

  • Cross River youths urged to develop businesses

    Cross River youths urged to develop businesses

    Cross River State has often been generally regarded as slow in terms of businesses.  But a group of young people, led by Mr Stanley Nsemo, believes the tide can be turned with the right attitude to business.

    •Mr Nsemo
    •Mr Nsemo

    At a programme tagged Aspire Calabar held at the Channel View Hotel in Calabar, Nsemo, who is the managing partner of White Chapel and Partners, said the aim was to promote the spirit of entrepreneurship among young people in the state

    Nsemo said: “What we are trying to do is a collaboration between a few young men that have grown up here in the state and looking for an opportunity to give back to the state by helping young people to inspire them to aspire to be more. We are trying to communicate to young people to come up, get entrepreneurs, become enterprising and do things differently and stop waiting for things to

    “We have committed ourselves to mentorship, to build a few young persons in business. So we would pick 10 of their proposals, and give them a hundred thousand for each of them and groom them into business ideas that are workable and profitable to add values to the state.  If we can successfully do town people every year, that would be a huge contribution. We intend to groom 10 young people every year.

    “We pray that the government would see what we have done. The government has done so much so far. We are working with the entrepreneurship development centre, EDC. They are providing training. They already have a subsidized training curriculum that we are assessing for this 10 people.”

    He continued: “Governor Ben Ayade is on the right track. The focus that he has on entrepreneurship is what we are looking for. We are luck to have a governor that understands that it is a business enterprise that drives the development of any state and as long as we have good ideas your state will grow.

    “There is problem in the country and it is because most young people feel the society owes them too much. Now that is not to say the society does not owe them. It owes them the enabling environment to grow and be good citizens, but your development and growth comes from within. You must push yourself. As young people, this is the opportunity they need to see others like themselves that have been able to break free of the shackle of thinking that people have to look after you. Start small think big. When you start like that opportunities would present themselves to help you scale up your business.”

    Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Mr Bassey Ewa Henshaw encouraged the youth to be bold and hardworking as nothing good comes easy.

    General Manager, Investment Funding and Credit, Cross River Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency, Mr Louis Ibok, said there was a need to inspire young people to start and run their own businesses as a way of pursuing their dreams and contributing to society.

    “If the youth gathered here because they need to start businesses, we need to also highlight what they need to do to leverage the opportunities available in the state so their businesses can start and grow as a means of solving unemployment and poverty issues within our society.

    “Generally speaking business can thrive in any climate. All you need to do is learn what the variables are and how you can adapt your business model to whatever is happening at a particular time.”

    Director Davandy Group of Companies, Mr Asuquo Ekpenyong, “The message is that when you want to start a business, go about the documentation, have business plan, do painful research, try to raise finance and then go into your business. Hire the right people and also have a sense of conviction about what you are going to do because there will be challenges.”

  • ‘Why youths must be empowered’

    ‘Why youths must be empowered’

    For Nigeria to develop, its youth must acquire quality education and possess psychological motivation, says renowned political scientist, Prof Osisioma Nwolise. He spoke at a youth empowerment seminar organised by a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Moses Bolanle.

    According to Nwolise, who is the Head of Department of Political Science at the University of Ibadan (UI), it is dangerous for youths to be idle. Youth idleness, he said, is time-bomb that could explode anytime, adding that joblessness has increased poverty and hopelessness among youngsters.

    He said: “The youth have faced a lot of injustice under the previous administrations. They were neglected and excluded from strategic decision-making. Their woes were compounded by joblessness, which gave rise to hopelessness. The ray of hope for the youth is the job programmes of the current administration. If implemented, the youth may have cause to smile again.”

    Nwolise said things could change for the better under President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    He said the only catalyst for national development was to boost the youth’s productivity. Development, he said, is not to bring relief to the citizenry, but to enable citizens of a nation discover their inherent potential for the growth of their country.

    He added: “Our leaders have failed to deploy good foreign policy as strategic instrument for national development. Nigeria has played the role of Father Christmas for too long and it has brought nothing back other than insults from the beneficiaries of our help. We have allowed domestic policies to be manipulated by external forces, because our leaders want their loot to be protected. It is hoped that the Buhari administration would change these illsý.”

    To boost the youth productivity, Nwolise suggested that National Youth Service period be extended to two years. The first year, he said, should be used for para-military drilling and acquisition of entrepreneurial training. He said the second year should be used to practise knowledge acquired.

    He said: “The country needs to create between three and five million jobs annually for the next four years to dry up the pool of idle youth. This can be done through the upgrade of electricity and agriculture. The government can negotiate with other countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to export excess manpower in relevant sectors. Cuba, for instance, exports medical doctors and military personnel.”

    Earlier, chairman on the event, Chief Lekan Alabi, advised Corps members to be of ýgood character, saying such would help to redeem the image of the country.

    Moses, a Batch “C” Corps member, used the occasion to unveil his personal Community Development Service (CDS) project tagged: School In A Bag (SIAB). He said the project was borne out of the need to make Corps members think outside the box.

    After the event, the some of the guests were honoured with awards.

  • Youths to APC: choose credible candidates

    Indigenous youths of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), under the auspices of AMAC Youth for Good Governance (AYGG) have appealed to the leadership of the council chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to ensure that a credible Chairmanship candidate is elected from the over 23 chairmanship aspirants in the forth coming party chairmanship primaries.

    The youth who made this call through their leader, Comrade Ishiaku Audu, in a press briefing in respect to the forth coming council elections,  explained that there is the need for the party to trail the path of the good example exhibited by the national level of the party,  where the leadership was not bought with money before the presidential election.

    Audu explained that the youth are worried with the numbers of aspirants that are vying for the chairmanship position and most of them intend to buy their way through with money, saying that since the APC has become the ruling party, that the numbers of chairmanship aspirants has gone beyond the expectation of the people.

    According to the indigenous youth,  it is obvious that with the numbers of aspirants and the ways most of them are going about the chairmanship election,  whereby some of them are trying to buy the conscience of the people with money is something to be worried about, that if the party is not careful,  the wrong person will be chosen during the primaries.

    “We are seriously disturbed, because we do not want the wrong person to be selected by the party during the primaries. We have taken critical look at all the aspirants and if we are allowed to make our choice,  we will prefer the former AMAC Secretary and present FCT APC Secretary,  Hon. Abdulahi Candido,  because he has been the only consistent person in the party, before it became the ruling party.

    “We must understand that the era of buying the conscience of people with money to get their votes is over. We are appealing that the primary election be based on somebody that has what to offer to the people of AMAC.   That is why we believe that Hon. Candido is the best aspirant amongst all of over 23 aspirants and he can continue with the spirit of positive change in the council.

    “We will not keep quiet and let things go wrong in the council.  We have gotten information of how some aspirants are trying to buy the conscience of people, by giving them cars and monetary gifts. That attitude has shown they do not have anything to offer the people, if anyone of them becomes chairman. AMAC people should not sell their future for peanuts. That is why we are appealing that the leadership of the party should not make mistakes during this election,” he said.

    The indigenous youth further advised the AMAC leadership of the party to consider experience and sincerity when making the choice to select the candidate to fly the party’s flag during the election, saying that only an aspirant  that has the experience in the affairs of the council, will be able to know how to affect the lives of the people when elected.

     

  • Power outage: Police arrest protesting youths

    The police in Ondo State have arrested 15 youths, who “protested” 13 months blackout in the southern senatorial district, which comprises six local governments.

    It was gathered that the youth are members of a group, National Revolutionary Vanguard (NRV).

    The group’s coordinator, Sayo Onukun, directed his members to stage a peaceful protest.

    As NRV members in Odigbo Local Government were preparing, some mobile policemen allegedly invaded their office in Ore and arrested some of them.

    The mobile policemen were led by CSP Adesina from the Ore Police Division.

    A police source said the arrested youths were cult members, who were out to disrupt the peace.

    They were later transferred to the Special-Anti Cultism section in Akure, the state capital, where they were “detained and tortured” before being released on bail.

    But Onukun said none of his members were cultists, addng that the police only acted in that manner to prevent the youth from protesting.

    However, NRV members from Okitipupa, Irele, Ilaje, Ese-Odo and Oke-Igbo were allowed to protest.

    The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions while singing solidarity and anti-government songs.

    Some of the placards read: “Osibodu restore our light”; Reverse the privatisation of NEPA now!”; “Enough is enough”; “People of the South are suffering”; “Where on earth do communities owe electricity bills?”;”10 months of blackout is hell” and “No to blackout in our land”.

    The youth blamed the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) for the blackout.

    They decried the hardship caused to their economic and social lives.

    The protesters noted that the electricity company claimed that the communities were cut off from the National Grid due to the alleged vandalisation of its infrastructures by miscreants.

    Last month, the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) said the communities owed over N1.9 billion.

    The Chief State Head, Edgar Earnestin, said the indebted communities would remain in blackout until they settled their debt.

    He explained that the money was part of the accumulated debt incurred from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

  • Entrepreneurial training for Ogun youths

    Entrepreneurial training for Ogun youths

    As the country’s unemployment situation worsens, the Blessed Gumpat Foundation (BGF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has organised skill acquisition training for youths of Olambe community, Ogun State.

    Over 80 people received training in different skills which included catering services, hat and bead making, event management, cosmetology (liquid soaps, air freshener etc), dish making, barbing, cocktail drinks, make-ups and gale, art and sign, black soap, tie and dye, basket weaving, ankara craft, cake making and snacks making, among others.

    The Coordinator of the programme, Pastor Timpaul Prisca said the foundation was committed to poverty eradication and alleviation. She also said there was need for entrepreneurship development and skill acquisition for the youth. This, she said, would impact positively on the immediate environment and the society as a whole.

    Apart from providing teaching aids, handout/training manuals, graduation gowns and certificates to successful participants, Prisca said the foundation would consider assistance for trainee(s) in dire need of finance to set up his or her workshop

    The foundation, which is also non-profit-based, was established for the purposes of empowerment and skill acquisition for the youth and the aged alike. According to the coordinator, the centre has goodwill for the homeless and children of school age who she said are rather hawking on the street instead of being in the classroom.

    She told Southwest Report that the foundation has the intention of building skill acquisition centres in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the nearest future.

    “Our target audience cuts across everyone who wants to be boss of his own and who wants to have streams of income in all rural/urban communities of the country,” she said.

    According to her, the foundation is in partnership with international bodies and local organisations in order to create wealth and ensure financial freedom among its target groups through training, lecture, donation and grants.

    If government and other public-spirited individuals or group of individuals would support the initiative, the rate of unemployment would be reduced if not eradicated.

    On some of the drawbacks the foundation experiences, the coordinator said funding was a major challenge confronting it.

    She said: “Financial support is hardly coming from anybody, including the government. It’s all about passion to ensure that the vision is not stifled that informed our doing it by ourselves.”

    She also said responses from benefiting communities were not very encouraging, adding that people were expected to come out en masse to key into the training. They didn’t believe what we have come to do; perhaps such things hardly ever come to them.

    Apart from the training, the NGO also donated some hospital equipment to facilitate the rehabilitation of the dilapidated primary health centre in the community.

    Commending the organisation’s efforts towards improving the living standard of members of the community, Chairman, Olambe Area Community Development Council (OACDC), Captain Babatope Emmanuel (rtd) said the empowerment programme would be significant to widows, women and youths that are idle. According to him, the training would go a long way in reducing youths’ disturbances in the area.

    He also said the hospital equipment donated by the foundation would spur community efforts to rehabilitate the primary health centre, saying the health centre had been abandoned for a very long time due to lack of government’s assistance.

    ”We are grateful to the Blessed Gumpat Foundation for the empowerment programme it brought to this community. We are also grateful for the hospital equipment it donated to the community’s health centre.

    “It is a challenge to us; it has encouraged us to move because we cannot just keep those things there; we don’t want to jeopardize their efforts. We will pool our resources through levy and voluntary donations; we need to put something on ground,” he said.

    He, however, appealed to the state government to provide infrastructural facilities such as roads, water, schools and electricity for the development of the area.

     

  • Youths protest in Ondo

    Over 200 youths yesterday marched on the streets of Akure, the Ondo State capital, to protest the abduction of former Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae.

    The youth, who converged on the palace of the Deji of Akure at 8am, blocked major roads in the town.

    The protest took the protesters to Oba Adesida Road, Oyemekun Road and Oja Oba, among other places.

    The protesters, under the aegis of Akure Youths Coalition (AYC), declared that they would resist all attempts by Fulani herdsmen to frustrate the people.

    AYC President Oluwatuyi Adekambi said before Falae’s kidnap, three people have been allegedly hacked to death at Igoba and Oba-Ile by suspected herdsmen.

     

     

  • Scheme to provide jobs for youths, says Ahmed

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has said the Next Entrepreneur Scheme introduced by his administration, which provides up to N10million micro-credit for each medium scale business, is to promote youth employment in the private sector.

    The governor, who spoke at the weekend in Oke-Ode, Ifelodun Local Government, said the micro-credit window would provide funds for small business owners to grow their businesses.

    He assured the people that the proposed independent power project and other projects would stimulate investment and economic activities.

    Said Ahmed: “We intend to stimulate investment inflow through our projects, such as an independent power project and major infrastructure across the state.

    “My administration remains committed to ensuring equitable distribution of projects. It is our expectation that these projects will stimulate economic activities and create jobs for youths.”

    According to him, the provision of qualitative education for the Kwara child remained important to his administration’s prosperity programme, as additional classrooms would be built as well as new campuses for the Kwara State University (KWASU).

    His words: “The proposed projects include 2,000 blocks of new classrooms, new campuses for KWASU in Osi and Ilesha Baruba and major projects.”

    On road projects, the governor said Share-Oke-Ode, Ipetu-Rore, Pategi-Kpada, dualisation of Michael Imoudu to Ganmo road in Ilorin, among others, would be completed.

    He said peace and harmony must prevail to enable the realisation of the projects and programmes, adding that grievances and desire for remedies, when expedient, should be through traditional, religious and legal platforms, rather than through self-help.

    Governor Ahmed has approved the appointment of Dr. Muritala Awodun as the pioneer executive chairman of the state Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) and Dr. Isaac Gbenle as its new director of Field Operations, Processes and Research.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said the appointments were made following a rigorous selection and interview to ensure that only the best candidates were appointed in view of the strategic importance of the KWIRS.

    Until his appointment, the new executive chairman of the state revenue service, was the dean of the School of Business and Governance (SBG), Kwara State University, Malete.

    He was also the founding director of KWASU Centre for Entrepreneurship, 2009-2014 and the founding head of the Department of Management Sciences.

    Dr. Awodun holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, a Master of Science in Economics and a PhD in International Business.

    He is a Fellow of the Institute of Entrepreneurs, Nigeria and the Institute of Direct Marketing of Nigeria. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Executive Education Programme and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

    Dr. Gbenle is a recognised leader in IT Assurance and Security, and an expert in Enterprise IT and governance. He has a Bachelors degree in Economics, Master’s in Business Administration and PhD in IT Assurance & Security.

    Dr. Gbenle has directed and managed IT strategic and operational planning, and established appropriate governance structures, frameworks and tools that supported the business needs of several organisations.