Okwe Obi, Abuja
A leader in the All Progressives Congress (APC) party and a former member of House of Representatives, Abimbola Daramola, says that higher education graduates should reject the Federal Government’s pilot public works job scheme for 774,000 Nigerians.
The ex-lawmaker argued that aside from the meagre N20,000 monthly salary, the short term of the scheme, it also belies the status of university graduates and could inadvertently deny the productivity of young Nigerians.
Daramola, who spoke at an entrepreneurship interactive summit called Project 60:60:60, in Abuja, said the government should rather pay graduates N60,000 budgeted for three months to enable them learn different trades like plumbing, tailoring or tiling.
He also announced plans to assist over 60,000 entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas from each geopolitical zones with N60,000 to N1 million each without reimbursement.
‘For me, the job is regrettable. How far can you go with a job that pays you N20,000 per month? That forms a consumptive profile,’ Daramola said.
“Nations are built on production. You do not build a nation on the basis of consumption. If you hire 1000 people to be sweeping the streets and compare that with one thousand persons who could be tilers, tailors, I think that could be good.
‘If we are going to pay people N20,000 for three months, what happens next? But if you put that N60,000 and give it to somebody to learn how to be a tailor or tiler or logistician or start a farm, he will serve the nation well.’
On how he intends to go about his scheme, he said: ‘The project will start with a boot camp where we will take ideas and initiatives from young Nigerians who will send in their entries across the country.
‘Because it is 60:60:60, each zone will provide 60 persons that will benefit N60,000 to N1,000,000,000 from their workable ideas.
‘There will be a board of assessors that will assess every idea with you. Whoever wins, the assessors will sit and plan with them and we will be able to make available to you free capital and support fund without interest.’
Television host Nancy Illoh advised entrepreneurs to be meticulous, hone their skills and earn the trust of consumers, by providing quality services.