NIGERIAN YOUTHS: WAY FORWARD?


Our Parents or Much Older relatives one way or the other fed us with tales, feeding us this tales with so much excitement and you could even sense them blushing as they told these stories. An uncle of mine, a very nice and Godly man was particularly good ar stressing, " railway ". " Immediately we left secondary school, we became hot cakes. They would start chasing us right, left, and centre. The offer was just too impressive, sometimes a car would be attached. " Gone are the days", they would end it, saying how the government has failed the youth.

Yes, they are quite right. The government has failed the youth but the area of failure has changed in scope. The 20th century has made way for the 21st century. Then, government was the highest employer of labour, Now, they are the least employer. The Redeemed Christian church of God employ more staffs than many state government. Private firms and a new brand of employers,, The CEO's of SMEs, though with staff strength of between 2 and 30, have spread like weed but they've grown where they are needed and wanted, and consider that we have close to 2 million SMEs in Nigeria. Most of them are Nigerian graduates who have learnt one trade or the other and have added tertiary education knowledge, swag, and freshness to business.

In 2016, the government of change led by the ailing Muhammadu Buhari-- a very good man but one who has spent more days outside the country than within ever since been elected in an historic election in 2015 has unveiled one of its brain child, N-POWER, all designed to train Nigerian youths, solve unemployment, and raise entrepreneurs. From afar, it seems a good initiative but it can only cater for about two hundred thousand youths( dont mind the hefty figures brandied about ). it focuses solely on Teaching, agro, I.T, but it can't cater for the over 38 million Nigerian youths and the meagre allowance of #23000 is a big shame. the 19800 earned in service has taught us some lessons. my brain did some mental calculations. An npower beneficiary is at least 25 who is not expected to rely on His parents for any money for whatsoever thing he needs. he is expected to be a man or a lady who is independent of mind and purpose. Npower if even successful doesn't guarantee a choice job because most big corporations dont advertise job vacancies anymore. even CBN and DSS now do do secret recruitments as we found out early this year.

Youths, Arise! Obey the clarion call but let us be less stupid and more proactive. The future is now in sale of foods and vocational skills which one can expand to become very big. Pap powder, dried egg, mango flakes, customised wears, bead, cake, and snacks, Ankara craft, even chewing stick seems to be the way forward for us. please let us unstarch our white collar, and learn a skill and advise our younger ones to learn a skill in school. That is the way forward.