Youths should be aware of govt’s plans for them, says minister

Emmanuel Oladesu

YOUTH and Sports Minister Sunday Dare on Thursday said many youths who joined the #EndSARS protests were unaware of Federal Government’s welfarist plans for them.

He regretted that the legitimate protest against police brutality degenerated into arson and breakdown of law and order.

Dare stated this during an interactive session with All Progressives Congress (APC) youth leaders from 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Minna, the Niger State capital.

He said: “Opinions and analyses remain divided over what transpired at those protests and what lessons are there for the country. Being the minister with the mandate for the youth, I have key takeaways from the #EndSARS protests.

“One of them is that my ministry made a compendium of the opportunities and intervention programmes created for the youth by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in the last five years and a half and we were able to come up with as many as 25 of them.”

Dare added: “Unfortunately, we also found out that most, if not all, of those that protested were not aware of these opportunities.

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“They were in part angry with the government without realising that the government had created and continues to create these opportunities for them. The scenario needs not have been like this.

“We have, as a government, decided that we make this information available to our youth leaders so that they can in turn disseminate to our teeming youths using your extensive network.”

The minister said the awareness about the opportunities could be in vain, if the youth refuses to tap into them.

He urged the youth leaders to mobilise the people in their networks and constituencies to apply for the government programmes for maximum benefits.

Highlighting the opportunities, Dare said: “I can immediately speak to the DEEL initiative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, which stands for Digital skills acquisition, Employability, Entrepreneurship and Leadership.

“We are going to train 500,000 youths in digital skills to ensure they are appropriately equipped with the skills they require. The Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), as approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), is receiving applications.

“Beneficiaries can access loans of between N250,000.00 and N3,000,000.00 once they meet the criteria. We have also set up the Work Experience Programme to make our youths employable by getting them into the work environment to get on-the-job training and experience.

“These are in addition to the leadership skills and mentorship that we make available to the youth through the Citizen Leadership and Training Centre (CLTC) of the ministry.”

The minister said the interactive session was premised on the knowledge that APC youths are great assets to the government of President Buhari.

He added: “You constitute a powerful channel through which the government can deepen the dissemination of information to the wider youth population, and even across party lines.”