Following the rate of unemployment in the country, the President-General of the World Youth Organisation (WYO), Ambassador Adeniyi Adeyemi has urged the youths to be more enterprising so as to build a better Nigeria.
He also enjoined the youths to imbibe the spirit of creativity and integrity to succeed in an increasingly dynamic and globalised world and not sit idly or wait endlessly for the governments to provide all the jobs they needed.
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Adeola Badru, Amb. Adeyemi noted that the call was imperative to awaken in the youths to creativity, enterprising spirit and values necessary to identify and harness business or job opportunities in their environment.
Amb. Adeyemi blamed the increasing joblessness of the youths on the nation’s economic model, which he reasoned had outlived its effectiveness.
He noted that Nigeria’s economic model placed the government as the main employer of labour, but expressed regrets that the government is today faced with a situation where jobs demand far outstripped available space.
The world youth president said this informed why his administration as President-General of the World Youth Organisation, on assumption of office, had policies to support the youth in setting up their own companies and equip them to earn their own wages.
Amb. Adeyemi said his administration had identified agriculture and agri-business, artisanal and technical vocations, commerce and industry, environment, sports and entertainment as areas where the youth could explore to create jobs for themselves.
“To ensure that there are enough jobs for our youths today and for those that will enter the labour market in 30 years, there must be a deliberate policy to support our youth in setting up their own companies; we must equip them to earn their own wages. The good news is that our youths are ready to be their own bosses.”
“So my focus is to show young people like myself the many ways they could go. My administration will work with various international organisations on acquiring the skills, tools and support necessary to become employers of labour.”
To arrive at this envisaged future, Amb. Adeyemi admonished governments at various levels to assist the youths to translate commercial ideas into marketable businesses, adding that: “If neither the public nor the private sector cannot employ them, we must help them to employ themselves.”
“Unemployment has been growing at a rapid rate alongside our population. The World Bank report shows that unemployment has not decreased since 1999 and, that in particular, youth unemployment has been on the rise. Unemployment among the youth is put at 35.9%, which when compared with national overall unemployment of 21.1% is significantly high.”
“So, our approach to youth emancipation must have geographical breath, to cover rural and urban areas; sectoral breadth to accommodate people seeking work at the two extremes of educational attainment; and must take into consideration the structural obstacles faced by all and most especially our women,” Amb. Adeyemi said.
He stressed that the university education they had was to open their minds to possibilities, pointing out that the real value of their education was the way they processed the information in their environment.
The world youth president, similarly, charged the three tiers of government to invest more in youth development rather than building infrastructure.
“No matter how many bridges you (government) build or how many roads you construct if you don’t empower the youths all the efforts may go to waste.”
“Building people is key, let us grow people and not buildings, let us build a society where we all value human lives, a society where we live by the rule of law and not by the rules of men,” he stressed.
