Career News -The Ministry of Youth Development is to partner with selected ministries to create jobs for the 68 million confirmed jobless Nigerian youths.
Mr Bolaji Abdullahi, the Minister of Youth Development, made this known on Thursday in Abuja when he visited Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, his counterpart in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
He said the collaboration was necessary to save the future of the country.
He explained that for his ministry to address the challenges posed by youth unemployment, there was the need to explore opportunities and create the platform that would assist the Nigerian youth to secure jobs and become independent.
He said that reason underscored the need for a strong partnership between his ministry and that of agriculture.
The 68 million population of Nigerian youths is three times the population of Ghana, the next most populous country in West Africa.
God forbid, if anything happens to this huge population of people, the entire West Africa is in trouble.
So the challenge that we face is not only national but also transnational, and I believe that the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has the key and strategies to solve these challenges,’’ Abdullahi said.
Responding, the Minister of Agriculture said the collaboration was timely.
He explained that the Federal Government was concerned about replacing the more than 70 million ageing peasants who are responsible for feeding the entire nation.
The unemployment rate which was 12.5 per cent in 2007, is today over 23 per cent and 32 per cent of those affected are between the ages of 14 and 44, while agriculture must be made attractive to absorb them,'' he said.
He said that the youth would maximally benefit if the N356 billion spent annually by government on the importation of rice was utilised in the development of commercial agriculture.
According to Adesina, government is making efforts to revitalise agriculture by modernising the sector with the use of technology and embarking on mechanised agriculture.
He said that officials of the two ministries should put together a proposal tagged: Youth in Agri-Business Initiative (YABI) .
From: News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
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