ABUJA – Dr John Abhuere, the President, Centre for ChildCare and Youth Development (CCYD), an NGO, on Thursday urged the Federal Government to provide enabling environment for job opportunities for the nation’s youths.
Abhueri told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the availability of jobs would boost the present administration’s transformation agenda.
“The only way to promote transformation agenda is for government and stakeholders to focus on youths by providing enabling environment for job creation.
“It is estimated that youths constitute over 60 per cent of the nation’s work-force.
“Without youth having that opportunity to work, they cannot actively participate in the transformation agenda.
“The government is saying let us transform but the basic problems persists. We have to focus on youth by giving them the opportunity to participate in the transformation.
“One of the ways to encourage their participation is by creating employment opportunities and engaging them with skills acquisition,” Abhueri said.
He said that youths should also be encouraged to be self-employed.
“We need to let people know that there is really ways to be self-employed. The vehicle to achieve this should be provided by the government.
“This can be in form of making soft loans available from micro-finance institutions or other necessary means,’’ he said.
Abhueri said the NGO would continue to play its part promoting the wellbeing of the populace, particularly, the less privileged and youths.
“The NGO has created an environment whereby the youths will be trained on various hand-on-jobs such as sowing, hat making and confectionery, among others.
“Some of them have been settled so they can make those things on which they have been trained to help themselves and their entire families.
“I am appealing to the government and other stakeholders to be committed to job creation and synergise to provide an enabling environment for our youths to be part of the transformation agenda.
“I know that the commitment will not only bring development but will also help to reduce corruption, violence, robbery and other social vices in our society,’’ he said. (NAN)[eap_ad_3]