By Bimbola Oyesola, [email protected]
The National Union of Banks Insurance and Financial Institutions (NUBIFIE) has charged the Federal Government to give utmost importance to youth development through job creation and other empowerment programmes.
President of NUBIFIE, Anthony Abakpa, speaking during the presentation of an award to him by the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria (NYC) in Lagos last week, said the future of the country belonged to the youth, hence they must not be neglected.
He reasoned that the union, under his leadership, gives more prominence to the struggle aimed at protecting the rights of workers in the financial sector.
He said, “If you say you don’t care what happened to your neighbour, there’s no gainsaying that you would be spared from the consequences and that’s what is happening in the country right now on the issue of insecurity.
“We shall continue to agitate for the voiceless, especially the youths, there’s no doubt that when you build the youths, you will build the nation.”
Abakpa, who lamented that the present COVID-19 pandemic has impacted negatively on the country, prayed that the pandemic would soon become history for the economy of the nation to bounce back to normal.
The general secretary of the union, Mohammed Sheik, said NUBIFIE was elated for being singled out for the award out of several industrial unions in the country.
According to him, the emergence of the incumbent president was through the furnace of struggle and peace, hence, the achievement he has recorded was outstanding.
“I recall that the union has been through turmoil but the incumbent has been able to stabilize the union in spite of the challenges in the sector.
“We are aware that the honour comes with a lot of responsibilities, defender of the youth, our union shall try to live up to the expectation,” he said.
In his presentation, Farouk Mohammed, leader of the delegation of the Northern Youth Council of Nigeria, explained that the NUBIFIE president was honoured due to his giant strides and commitment towards workers’ emancipation.
“We noticed the union’s struggles, fighting injustice in the banks and insurance sector, especially during the Ecobank problem. This and some others, including mentoring the nation’s youths, are the reasons why the president is being inducted into our hall of fame,” he said.
Mohammed added that Abakpa was also seen as a bridge builder, a detribalised Nigerian who has been able to impact the society positively through several programmes.
The NYC leader said that the group’s main ideal, among others, was to foster peace throughout the country through empowerment schemes, drug rehabilitation centre as well as conferences.