Okwe Obi, Abuja
A development consultant, Dr. Laz Eze, has scored Nigeria low in the area of youth empowerment, stressing that government has not done enough despite the struggle, ingenuity and determination of young people.
He said even those who break records in their fields of endeavour do not get recognised and celebrated, compared to those who indulge in illegal ventures to make money.
Laz, in a statement yesterday to commemorate the 2020 International Youth Day, saluted young people who have refused to soil their in hands in nefarious activities in their quest to make money, despite the vicissitudes of life and peer pressure.
He advised the Federal Government to invest in the empowerment of young people for a better future, adding that it was not enough for government to characterise millennials as lazy people without puting basic infrastructure on ground.
He argued that, “When Ayodele Dada broke the UNILAG record at the age of 29 years in 2016 with a CGPA of 5.0, there was no much emphasis on his youthfulness, but when the 32 years old Ramon Abbas (a.k.a Hushpuppi) got arrested recently in Dubai for alleged fraud, the conversation was so much about how the “youth” wants to make money overnight.
“When Mr. Osita Chidoka who was made a Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps at the age of 35 years – a position many believed he discharged creditably well, he rarely get referenced as a youth. But when Dimeji Bankole who became Speaker of the House of Representatives at the age of 39 years was accused of corruption in his early 40’s, the media was awash with the analysis on how the “youth” was incapable of leading well.”
