President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday boasted that his
administration is the first in Nigeria’s history to create 5,400 direct jobs
for the nation’s unemployed youths. He said the feat was achieved through the
Federal Government’s Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin).
Jonathan spoke during the presidential launch of Youth Entrepreneurship
Strategy at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The
programme was designed to encourage youth employment and self-reliance.
Jonathan also said 2,500 entrepreneurs empowered by his administration had also
created an average of nine jobs each therefore bringing the total jobs created
to 22,000. The President said, “This will be the first government in the
history of Nigeria that will directly create 5,400 jobs through the YouWin
programmes. “I am also proud to say that the 2,500 entrepreneurs have created
an average of nine jobs each making it a total of 22,000 jobs so far.
“Entrepreneurs are the engine room of the Nigeria’s economy as they are
responsible for more than 60 percent of our $510bn Gross Domestic Product and
the MSMEs are responsible for almost 98 percent of the new jobs created in our
economy on an annual basis. “The new jobs we are targeting will come from the
SMEs.” Jonathan expressed delight that the success story of his
administration’s job creation efforts is impressive and beyond expectation. The
failure rate of the programme, he added, is less than 10 percent. He said his
administration at inception identified unemployment among youths as one of the
greatest challenges to tackle. This, he said, was the reason why his government
took numerous steps to tackle the challenge. He said his administration’s
target was to create not less than two million jobs annually. Minister of Youth
Development, Mr. Boni Haruna, had earlier described the programme as private
sector-driven initiative that seeks to empower youth. The Chief Executive
Officer of Anabel Group, Mr. Nicholas Okoye, said the present administration
had empowered over seven million youths. Okoye said the figure had surpassed
the total of those empowered by previous administrations put together. “Those
who say you (Jonathan) have not done anything for the youth are simply not
saying the truth,” he said Describing all Nigerian problems are subset of
employment crisis among the youth, Okoye commended the Federal Government for
tackling the challenge headlong.
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