FG Moves To Upgrade Youths From Job Seekers To Creators

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News Sunday, December 13th, 2015

By Niyi Adeyi

The Federal Government (FG) has pledged to encourage and assist Nigerian youths to upgrade from being job seekers to job creators.

In achieving this, the government has pledged it would sustain and improve ongoing programmes started by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, the Bank of Industry, the Bank of Agriculture and other Federal agencies to grant the young entrepreneurs start-up loans at concessionary rates.

Speaking Saturday at the 2nd Convocation ceremony of the Kaduna State University with the theme: “Entrepreneurship for Development”, President Buhari who gave the pledge, urged the Nigerian private sector to also do more to support government’s efforts to boost youth entrepreneurship and the development of micro, small and medium scale enterprises in the country.

Mr. President declared that job creation would remain one of the topmost priorities of his administration’s economic agenda because it was vital for the attainment of the FG other objectives, regarding improved security and poverty reduction.

Similarly, Buhari pledged that his administration would “give the fullest possible support to all efforts to create more jobs through the reorientation of Nigerian youth towards an entrepreneurial mindset”.

“This administration will ensure that youths in the country are gainfully employed and youth restiveness curtailed.

“One of the focal points of this administration is job creation. Job creation will help in the achievement of other objectives of the government such as poverty reduction. Insecurity cannot be divorced from unemployment and poverty because an idle mind, they say, is the devil’s workshop.

“With declining internally generated revenue and over dependence on equally declining oil revenues, there is need to seek other ways of diversifying the economy so as to boost revenue.

“One of the ways we can achieve this is through the reorientation of our youths towards an entrepreneurial mindset. We must therefore promote and enhance the teaching and learning of entrepreneurial skills in all schools and tertiary institutions, thereby exposing our youth to the basics and rudiments of starting and sustaining their own businesses,” President Buhari told the gathering, according to a statement by his SSA on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

The President thanked the University for conferring on him, honourary doctorate degree of letters.