Govt social programmes will create jobs ---- Lai Mohammed
From left: Ministers of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde
Fasola; Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Information
and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige,
Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed and the
Minister Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung at the Town Hall Meeting organised
for youths by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in Abuja on
Tuesday.
(Nigeria) The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that the Federal Government's massive investment in social programmes will help accelerate the process of job creation, especially for the youths.
Speaking at the Special Edition of the FG's Town Hall
Meeting for Youths in Abuja on Tuesday, the Minister also said the government
places a serious premium on youth empowerment, youth development and youth
engagement, hence the decision to organize the Town Hall Meeting specifically
for them.
''We have no choice because, according to the National
Population Commission, more than half of Nigeria’s population are under 30
years of age! No government can afford to ignore this important demographic
group, plus the youths are no longer just the leaders of tomorrow, but today’s
leaders too,'' he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said the Administration is investing massively
in the Social Investment Programmes that benefit youths, listing them as
including the N-Power Volunteer Scheme; the N-Power Job Creation Programme that
provides loans for traders and artisans; the Home-grown School Feeding
Programme, the Conditional Cash Transfers to the most vulnerable members of the
society and the Family Homes Fund, a social housing scheme.
''As many of you are undoubtedly aware, 200,000 jobs were
created in the first phase of the N-Power Volunteers Programme. That is perhaps
the highest number of jobs that have been created in one fell swoop by any
government in the history of our country. Some 300,000 jobs are next in line,
to bring the total to the promised 500,000 jobs. These jobs benefit mostly the
youths who will be engaged the areas of education, health care and agriculture
''Also, the Home-grown School Feeding has already taken off
in three states – Anambra, Kaduna and Osun. It is now being scaled up to 11 of
the 18 states designated for the first phase. Already, some 25,000 cooks have
been trained in 9 states. Concerning the Conditional Cash Transfer, the data of
the beneficiaries in 9 states are now ready, and the payment process for those
states is in top gear.
''For the Micro-credit scheme, more than 1 million Nigerians
are set to get loans at very low interest rates through the bank of industry.
The loans range from N20,000 to N100,000. The pilot scheme is taking place in 8
states and here in the Federal Capital Territory,'' he said.
The Minister disclosed that in order to sustain the Social
Investment Programme, the N500 billion Naira for the programme has been
retained in the 2017 budget, which was recently presented to the National
Assembly by Mr. President.
He said on its part, the Ministry of Information and Culture
is leveraging on the Creative Industry, which is youth-driven, to create jobs
and unleash the huge potentials of the youths.
''We have signed two Memoranda of Understanding with the
Tony Elumelu Foundation and the British Council to train festival managers,
build the capacity of our youths and link the Creative Industry with the
Business World. Our imminent transition from Analogue to Digital Broadcasting
is set to create 1 million jobs in 3 years, with most of those jobs going to
the youths.
''These jobs are already being created as we speak. This is
because as the Digital Switch Over train arrives in Abuja this Thursday and
then proceeds to other parts of the country, we will need hordes of installers,
retailers, repair technicians and marketers for the set-top boxes or decoders
that will be required to meet the demand of the 24 million TV households,''
Alhaji Mohammed said, adding that the huge quantum of content that will be
required for the DSO would also provide opportunities for the ''creative mind
and the technically-savvy.”
The Minister said the government was working hard to ease
the hardship in the land, and sought the ''undiluted support'' of the youths in
this regard.
''This Government is unrelenting in its efforts to ease the
hardship in the land, especially youth unemployment, brought about by years of
poor or lack of planning, profligacy, mismanagement of funds, massive
corruption and lack of investment in social investment programmes. We did not
create today’s hardship, but we are resolved to end it and make life more
abundant for our people,'' he added.
The Town Hall Meeting, which started in Lagos in April and
has also been held in Kaduna, Kano, Uyo, Enugu and Abuja, was introduced to
bridge the communication gap between the government and the citizens and also
to serve as a feedback mechanism for government programmes.
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