By Goodluck Ikiebe in Abuja.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has called on Management and Staff of the Ministry to raise the bar of performance and accountability in the discharge of their duties to meet the expectations of Nigerians in line with the Ministry’s mandate.
Dare gave the charge on Friday during the 3rd Town Hall Meeting with the staff of the Ministry, held at the Velodrome Centre of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.
He said that the Town Hall Meeting with the staff was a tool that could be used to measure the successes and challenges recorded by various Departments of the Ministry, particularly in the area of providing sustainable framework for the formulation and implementation of the policies.
The minister added that it would be used measure programmes and other initiatives of the present administration aimed at promoting and enhancing youth and sports development in the country.
He said,“It is through the monitoring and reporting of accomplishments, particularly progress made toward pre-established goals that we can ensure a Nigeria with empowered and successful youth in all fields of life and Nigerians that are adequately supported to excel in sports and youth development at all levels.”
Mr Sunday Dare added that the meeting was instituted to review overall performance of the Ministry across all its departments, against the agreed targets; provide a forum for strategic planning discussions and policy recommendations and action.
The exercise, he also told the management and staff that it was to identify whether the Ministry was meeting the expectations of the public it served, ensure decisions and policies were based on facts and identify where improvements needed to be made.
He, however, observed that the Ministry had improved tremendously within the period under review, from a second tier to a first tier rating, and urged the staff to put more efforts into the full implementation of the various initiatives, programmes and policies.
The minister noted that the policies and programmes were put together by the President Muhammadu Buhari led-Administration, with specific focus on Youth and Sports Development towards Wealth Creation, Youth Empowerment, Physical Fitness and Well-being, to achieve excellence in Sports, National Unity and Sustainable Growth and Development.
While expressing his determination to reposition the Ministry for optimum service delivery to Nigerians, in line with its assigned mandate, Mr Dare tasked the staff to take their jobs seriously, noting that the little efforts put in the line of duty would help government and people of the country to attain its goals and aspirations.
The Sports Minister, who commended the staff for their commitment, explained that the present administration,over the years, had initiated and implemented various programmes and projects to curtail youth unemployment by engaging them in meaningful and productive ventures that would lead to socio-economic growth and development.
He stated further that, the National Youth Policy (NYP) and Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan (NIYEAP) as well as the National Youth Employment Template were all developed by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (FMYSD) to respond to Youth employment in Nigeria.
Last year, he said, the Federal Government, through the efforts of the Ministry approved N75 billion enabled Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) for young entrepreneurs to have access loans at minimal interest rates in order to establish and improve their businesses.
“The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development under my watch launched the DEEL initiative aimed at giving Nigerian Youth a comparative advantage and a competitive edge in the global employment demand and supply. DEEL is an acronym for D-Digital Skills Acquisition, E-Employability, E-Entrepreneurship and L- Leadership,”he said.
According to him, the DEEL initiative has equipped 200,000 youths with digital skills-basic, intermediate and advanced skill in areas such as Web design and management, software training, cloud competing, Artificial intelligence, App development, code and data processing.
“I must commend you all for the improved performance in the period under review. Let me also emphasize the need for the Ministry to ensure that the public is kept up-to-date with your activities and achievements.
“Only few Nigerians, for example, know the tremendous achievements recorded by the teeming youth in the field of sports and Digital skills”, Dare said.
The Minister reiterated Government’s commitment to staff welfare with a view to motivating them for optimum service delivery to Nigerians, adding that “we will do our best to see that we impact on the face of youth and sports development in Nigeria”.
Earlier in his address of welcome, the Permanent Secretary,Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar, called on staff to urgently articulate strategies and map out time lines that would enable the achievements of goals and objectives of the priority projects of the Ministry.
He added that it was to improve performance within the youth and sports sectors, in line with the policy thrust of the present administration.
While presenting awards of excellence to the Minister, the Permanent Secretary; the Chairman, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, (FMYSD Chapter), Comrade Musa Abba, on behalf of the staff of the Ministry, thanked him and President Muhammadu Buhari.
He commended Dare and Buhari for the various initiatives put in place towards the development of youth and sports in the country.
The Permanent Secretary expressed the staff’s loyalty and commitment towards the realization of the Ministry’s vision and mandate.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
