Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Sule, has identified lack of ideas and initiatives by the teeming youth as the major problem of Nigeria and not unemployment.
Governor Sule stated this during this year’s Employability and Entrepreneurship Training programme organised for 95 participating graduate youths, which was organised by the Human Capital Development office in Lafia.
“With what is presently happening in countries like India and China, with their population of over one billion people each, Nigeria’s population could not be the reason for the high rate of unemployment but the absence of ideas and initiatives mostly among the youths,” he said.
He also noted that the intermittent commitment of his administration towards youths and women training, especially on human capital development, he explains why the state government embarked on the training of youths in order to make them self reliant, as well as employers of labour.
The governor also pointed out that no government was in a position to employ all the graduates from the nation’s universities and other tertiary institutions, indicating that, even though his administration continued to promote industrialisation, when the industries come, they might not be able to employ everybody.
“We, in Nasarawa State, will continue to promote industrialisation. But even the industries we are bringing will not be able to employ everybody. No matter how much you do, you won’t be able to engage everybody. People must be independent,” he emphasised.
Drawing from his experience while in the United States, where he went to school and worked, Sule said the major employers of labour were the small scale entrepreneurs who employ 5, 10 or 15 workers, but who cumulatively provide jobs for 60 percent of the total working population.
He expressed confidence that, with the participants graduating just after the state government signed a N500m facility with the Bank of Industry, they would be able to access resources to set up businesses of their own.
Engineer Sule acknowledged the presence of the Lafia branch manager of the Bank of Industry at the event, adding that, it is his hope that the graduates of the training will qualify to access funds from the bank to start their businesses.
The governor commended the state human capital team, chaired by the state deputy governor, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe, SSA on human capital development, Hajiya Habiba Balarabe Suleiman, as well as the consultants of the programme, Poise and Oxfam.
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