UMUAHIA – Governors in the southeast zone of the country have been urged to create awareness about Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOUWIN).
Dr. Onyekachukwu Ihekigbo, Federal Government’s Consultant/Mentor on YOUWIN, gave the advice during interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Friday.
He said they could do this through the relevant ministries and agencies in order to mobilise youths to benefit from the programme.
He expressed the belief that youths in the southeast were lacking information on YOUWIN.
“It is impossible for the government to employ the large population of unemployed youths in the country.
“The way out is for the State Governments to take advantage of federal government’s N10 billion YOUWIN grant to empower the youths and make them self-reliant’’, Ihekigbo said.
‘’If you ask 100 persons about YOUWIN, not up to five will know anything about it’’, he said.
Ihekigbo stressed that the lack of information had placed the zone behind others in terms of youth enrolment for YOUWIN.
He urged the state and federal governments to intensify their efforts in agriculture, in line with the African Union’s declaration.
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Ihekigbo, publisher of Ethiopia based International Agric Magazine, said there were many agricultural grants in Nigeria and Africa waiting to be utilised by farmers.
“The situation in the north and southwest is far better’’, he said.
He added that farmers in those areas were being assisted by their governments to access agric loans.
Ihekigbo said that his agro-based company had trained no fewer than 500 youths in different agro-based vocations in the southeast.
He listed the vocations as poultry, snail and fish farming, mushroom production, honey-bee keeping and cassava production.
Others are soap, cake, popcorn, paint, body lotion and cream making as well as meat pie, fish pie, ice cream, perfume and poultry feed production.
He reiterated the need for governments to invest heavily in agriculture in order to create jobs for the increasing population of unemployed youths. (NAN)
