ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – The Director, Planning, Research and Strategy of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) Abuja, Nuru Kobi, says the Federal Government is committed towards advancing youths development.
Kobi said this while speaking to newsmen at the sideline of the Hausa Fulani Youths Development and Orientation Forum (HAFYDOF) 2024 Annual Conference on Sunday in Kaduna.
The theme of the conference was “Najeriya a Yau: Ina Mafita?”. (Nigeria Today: What is the Way Out?.’
He emphasised that as part of the campaigns by the NOA, it has discouraged people from the getting-rich-quick mentality, rather they should strive to earn money through legitimate means..
Kobi said that it was no longer for the youths to capitalise on the lack of funds to complete their studies.
He said ,”The Federal Government has put in place the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which is readily available.”
According to Kobi, over 70,000 students had accessed it and are now continuing their education, while many others were yet to do so, adding that they were finding it difficult to graduate from school.
“The loan is there, but many of our young ones, especially from the North, are too reluctant to apply,”he lamented.
He disclosed that the agency had partnered with the NELFUND, where they would soon begin moving to the books and crannies of the country to intimate the students of the ample opportunities for them to complete their education.
The director equally said that the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) where about N110 billion was set aside to encourage the youths to ensure gainful living by supporting entrepreneurs and those who have skills to engage themselves in doing something.
“There are about 15 of such kinds of goodies by the Federal Government. The youths need to harness these opportunities so as to better their lives,” Kobi added.
He,, however, lamented that the people don’t care about accessing such opportunities by the government.
Kobi, therefore, urged Nigerians especially the youths to key into many programmes rolled out by the government which were aimed at easing their hardship and ensuring sustainability.
Earlier, the National President of HAFYDOF, AbdulAziz Tibibi, said the situation in the country, especially the multidimensional problems facing the North, needed to be addressed.
He said the conference was to talk to the people and liberate them, especially the youths on the importance of being productive, youthful and useful.
Tibibi added that the youth needed to participate in the political and leadership processes so as to bolster sustainable change in the society.
He lamented that there were a lot of issues in the economic and educational sector, which needed to be addressed in order to move the nation to a higher pedestal.
According to him, harnessing the full potential in different sectors of the economic and educational sector has the potentials to change the fortune of Nigeria and Nigerians.
He urged the youths to be productive and resilient in all their fields of endeavors and shun anything capable of jeopardising their future.
“The youths don’t need to be part of those causing problems to the country. We need to stand up and play vital roles to bring positive changes and narratives in the country.
“The youths must be law-abiding, follow the rules and regulations of everything and we will liberate the country for even the generations yet unborn,”Tibibi said.
Reports that youths drawn from parts of the country under the auspices of different organisation and groups attended the conference.(NAN)
