From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
A business mogul and Chairman Board of Directors of Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company Limited (ANAMMCO) Ltd, Chief Godwin Ubaka Okeke (Onwa) has called on federal government and politicians to stop playing politics with youths empowerment and employment in the county.
He advised the federal, state and local governments to create jobs through empowerment skills for the youths to end youth restiveness and other social vices in the society.
Okeke who is also the Chairman of G.U.O transport services company limited gave the advise while speaking with newsmen in Onitsha on “Youths Transformation Agenda” being organized by some youths in Anambra State.
He also blamed the incessant protests by the youths to unemployment and long strike action by university lecturers that gave them opportunity to be at home and idle to indulge in all manner of activities capable of destroying them and causing public disturbance in the county.
The former President of Onitsha OMATA said: “we, the elders in Nigeria are not doing enough for our youths, in short we have not started doing anything for our youths. All we have seeing is playing politics with the youths empowerment.
“We had the EndSARS tolerable and we thought both the federal, state and local government should have drive something from it and should have learnt enough from the protest, although the crimes hijacked it but these youths started it on very nice shooting, we all lost control and criminals took over the system.
“I’m pleading with all levels of government, Corporate bodies and groups, let’s take our youths much more serious than what we have been doing, lets not play politics with youths employment. It is not a very difficult task to engage the youths starting from the youths service.
“It is not possible that you train your children to university level, pay their school fees, after six years they graduate from higher institution, you send them to national youth service corps only to use them as cheap labour, they serve for one year, you push them back into the Labour market without any provision, without any empowerment. It is not good to continue to treat our educated youths in that way, it’s not good.
“Give them three months intensive training on skill acquisition, empower them with at least N500,000 each. So, with the skills they have acquired, they will use the money to start establishing something on their own and it will give them joy that they are doing something meaningful and also give them protection.
“There is no way the economy can grow under this situation. And the EndSARS protest which has surfaced again in some states, the youths said that they are not getting anything, they said that the promises were all political promises, that they have not seen any meaningful result after one to two months of the EndSARS protest across the country.
“Government can’t say that they are not aware of youths problem. Look at the university lecturer strike action that made the students to be home. I heard that they have started paying the lecturers and very soon they will call-off the strike. So, if they do that part of the problem is solved because when the students resume school some of these crises will be reduced and it will ease tension”Okeke stated.