ABUJA – Mr Anthony Onubogu, President, Catholic Youth Organisation of Nigeria (CYON), Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Wuse, Abuja, has urged youths to develop talents for self-reliance rather than wait for employment.
Onubogu made the call at the unveiling and exhibition of a youth empowerment programme tagged “Empower a Youth Initiative’’ in Abuja.
He said that plans were underway to train 40 youths on skills acquisition, adding that the rate of unemployed youths in the country was alarming.
“With the alarming increase of unemployment among youths which is affecting our parish, that is why we embarked on this youth empowerment programme in order to develop their skills.
“The programme includes electronic repairs, solar installation, agro-allied, fashion design, bead-making and construction,’’ he said.
Onubogu said that the programme was the first of its kind in the parish, adding that the funds raised from it would be used to train others who desired skills.
He said that an evaluation and monitoring team would be set up to monitor the growth of graduands of the programme.
Onubogu said that the youths constituted a larger part of the society and should, therefore, not be left idle, adding that idleness could result to nuisance.
Chairman of the occasion, Mr Tony Molokwu, advised youths to make use of their talents for self-employment, saying that youth entrepreneurship was the new focus and should be embraced.
“Going through primary, secondary and tertiary institutions does not guarantee automatic employment; even those with monthly salaries are still doing one form of business to make ends meet.
“Youths should discover what they love to do best and develop it rather than complaining of unemployment,’’ he said. (NAN)
