By Goodluck Ikiebe in Abuja.
The Nigerian Government has reassured that it would continue to harness youth potentialities with a view to enhancing sustainable economic growth and development.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Akin Dare, stated this on Friday in Lagos at the closing ceremony of the six-week training on Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), organised by the Ministry across the 36 States of the Federation,and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
He said that deliberate and strategic investment in young people was required for the high percentage of the youth population in the country to become a demographic dividend.
“When the youth are positively engaged, there will be a reduction in the indices of crime and delinquency, which are factors that are inimical to national development efforts,” Dare said.
He stated that the approach of the Ministry had been the inclusion of youth employment as a priority segment of the National Youth Policy (NYP), for which a framework for implementation had been provided in the Nigerian Youth Employment Plan (NYEP).
Dare added that the agenda, which would be launched in the next few weeks, would deliver a comprehensive approach to youth employment interventions, through multi sector collaborations that emphasized on the Four Es: Employability, Entrepreneurship Development, Employment Creation and Equal Opportunity.
“This framework will ensure the inclusion of partners across sectors and will create a robust partnership base, through my Ministry that would ensure wider reach of youth employment programmes across the country.
” With new challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, innovative solutions and a robust partnership are required to support youth participation in the process of rebuilding, through deliberate and strategic investment that will lead to sustainable economic growth and transformation,”, the Minister added.
According to him, the programme is an expression of the priority focus of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration, which is to among other things ensure “job creation for youth and to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years.”
He, therefore, called on all Nigerian youths to take up the challenge for self-development that would support their inclusion in nation building, reminding them that they had the potential, talents and energy for skills development and other opportunities that would give them leverage in the global economy.
Dare assured further that the present Administration was committed to the task of youth development and would continue to provide an environment that would enable innovative solutions to challenges of youths in the country.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Nebeolisa Anako, while distributing starter packs and other empowerment tools to the participants at the closing ceremony in Abuja, stated that the Ministry would continue to ensure full implementation of the programmes and projects of the Federal Government in line with the policy thrust of the present Administration.
He explained that the Ministry would continue to monitor their progress, periodically, to provide guidance and ensure compliance in line with the objectives of the programme.
Anako applauded the Federal Government on its various interventions on youth empowerment, particularly the DEEL initiative, conceived and launched by the Minister.
He said that the programme was designed to ensure a coordinated mechanism that woukd employ strategies to enhance the competitive aged of Nigerian youth with a focus on Digital Skills, Employability, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Mentoring.
Earlier in his address of welcome, the Director, Enterprise Development and Promotion Department of the Ministry, Mr. Gbenga Momoh, assured that participants would put the skills they acquired, during the training, into practice for self-development to enhance economic growth.
