Unarguably, one fundamental challenge facing the Nigerian youths and by implication the nation is unemployment with its attendant negative impacts on crimes, criminality and insecurity. Unemployment Rate in Nigeria increased to 33.30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 27.10 percent in the second quarter of 2020.
Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics released the report of its Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) survey showing that 63% of Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor. The amount is a whopping 133 million people of the country’s a little above 200 million population.
Indeed, this figure cuts across different age groups with able bodied youths who are ready, capable and willing to work but have no jobs available, constituting a large chunk. The implication of this on crime and other social vices including the raging insecurity currently being witnessed in the nation can best be imagined.
In Nasarawa state, the challenge of youth unemployment is, as should be expected, one of the challenges facing the government because not only is it at the heart of the crimes taking place in the state, it has further exacerbated the level of poverty.
To address this, the Governor Abdullahi Sule-led government has initiated different programmes and policies including the strengthening of the Nasarawa State Agency for Youth Empowerment Scheme (NAYES) which was the brainchild of his predecessor, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura.
NAYES specifically, is serving the dual purpose of addressing the challenge of insecurity and tackling unemployment. Through this scheme, able-bodied youths are recruited to assist in provide security where and when necessary through collaboration with the relevant security agencies, and assisting in traffic control and management in major cities of the state.
One other milestone, as far as the drive towards job creation in Nasarawa state is concerned, is the establishment of the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Technical Institute Lafia, which is saddled with the task of providing skills and vocational training for self-reliance to youths across the state.
Indeed, the governor’s desire to ensure that able bodied youths of the state have the requisite skills training that will make them economically independent was a taken a notch higher when only recently, the Institute graduated its first batch of trainees who have undergone intensive training in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and welding and fabrication.
Presenting certificates to the graduates of the institute, the Director General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) who also doubles as the Chairman of ITF-NECA board, Sir Joseph Ari, said the scheme is geared towards promoting availability of work force with appropriate technical and vocational skills, to meet identified needs of industries and the country.
It is a truism that the training will provide employable and entrepreneurship skills to youths to address skills needed in the country, as well as impact practical skills and attitudes for employment and entrepreneurship-minded workforce to reduce unemployment and create wealth.
Interestingly, the Bank of Industry (BoI) has firmed up arrangements for disbursement of funds to the trainees to enable them to procure the necessary tools to practice the skills they have learnt.
BoI’s Executive Director for Small and Medium Enterprises, Shekarau Umar, said the bank is ready to support the graduates from the N500m youth revolving scheme set up in collaboration with the Nasarawa State government.
While disclosing that BoI in partnership with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), has disbursed over N4.8bn to Nigerians across the 36 states, Shekarau said the bank will ensure that the graduates of the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Technical Institute Lafia benefit from that project.
“I also want to make it very clear to the graduates that funds to support you have been provided for by the state government and are sitting with us. We will support you in the best way we can,” Umar said.
It is clear that Engineer Sule’s foresight and commitment towards youths development through skills acquisition, is getting a boost and if sustained, will ultimately guarantee a safe future for the teeming youths in the state.
Already, the state has continued to play home to a plethora of investments, especially in the agricultural sector of the economy. For instance, Flour Mills of Nigeria has signed an agreement for the development of 20,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation and sugar industrial estate in Nasarawa around the Toto Local Government Area. That has an investment initially put at a minimum of $300 million.
In the same vein, the state also has the prospects of different investors coming to invest generally in the agriculture sector ranging from rice production to sugar and cassava production among others.
All of these are contributing towards ensuring the availability of jobs for the teeming youths who, when fully engaged, will be useful to not only themselves and their immediate families, but also the state and the nation at large.
As a demonstration of his commitment to consolidate on the job creation drive, Gov. Sule, promised to continue to create more opportunities for the teeming youths to have jobs and earn decent living.
“We will step up partnership with investors in the areas of industries to exploit the abundant resources as well as agro allied companies to boost food production. My second tenure will focus on poverty eradication, job creation and youth empowerment,” Gov Sule said, when he visited Loko community of the state, in continuation of his reelection campaign tour.
