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60% of Nigerian youths are jobless - Dr. Oluwoye

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60 per cent of Nigerian youths are jobless - Dr. Oluwoye

By HAMED SHOBIYE

Dr. Kayode Oluwoye is Chief Executive of Youth Future International, a non-governmental organization. He speaks to HAMED SHOBIYE, Special Correspondent Online, on the Federal Government's Vision 2020 project, the Niger Delta and challenges of youth empowerment.

The Federal Government last year introduced the Vision 2020 project as part of efforts to reposition the country to become one of the world's greatest 20 economies. How do you see this?

The Vision 2020 project is a laudable project, but I hope it is not one of those grandiose or white elephant projects that are synonymous with successive governments in the past. It is laudable in the sense that it was designed by the President Umaru Yar'Adua administration to reposition Nigeria socially and economically and put her in the comity of advanced and prosperous countries of the world.

However, the other side of the coin is our readiness for this massive project. Have we put anything in place to achieve this lofty objective? Where are the structures?

If you ask me, I would say that the (necessary) structures are not readily on the ground. The administration's seven-point agenda - namely, Power Development, Electoral Reform, Agriculture, Education, Niger Delta, Health and Unemployment - are the bedrock of this Vision, and unless all the problems bedevilling these sectors are addressed the Vision 2020 will more or less be a mirage.

For example, the power sector is in a shambles, in a serious mess. Any vision for economic growth and development without very reliable power supply cannot achieve its desired objectives. Despite our acclaimed oil wealth and huge oil and gas reserves, it is a sad tale to discover that hardly any part of the country today can enjoy 24 hours of uninterrupted power supply.

The power sector is like an abiku child (ogbanje) that has made nonsense of the so-called supernatural power of a herbalist. It is a hydra-headed monster that has defied every form of solution. However, the reasons for the failure of PHCN or the power sector generally are well known to all Nigerians.

As for the electoral reform, the question is what is there to reform? Despite assembling all the eggheads in the Judiciary and other areas to tackle the reform, I don't think we have recorded any success in this area. Though it is still too early, perhaps, to start making categorical comments on this, my advice is that there should be a complete re-orientation of Nigerians on the conduct of elections.

For the other Vision 2020 features - education, agriculture, Niger Delta, health and unemployment - it is the same old story. To achieve the Vision 2020 agenda, we must address the problems plaguing these sectors, particularly agriculture and education. The problems in the Niger Delta should also be addressed, as this region is central to the economic growth, indeed the continued existence, of Nigeria as one single entity.

Still on the Niger Delta, the FG has threatened to unleash the armed forces and other security agencies on the militants. Do you think this is a right decision?

One needs to be very careful when commenting on the FG's new posture on the Niger Delta. To be fair to Yar'Adua's administration, he has demonstrated absolute sincerity in his plans to develop the troubled region. The Niger Delta summit would provide the real platform for the various communities in the Niger Delta to table their grievances and arrive at definite conclusions. The United Nations is particularly interested in the summit as it sees it as the most suitable avenue to bring together all the stakeholders in the Niger Delta, including the militants.

My advice also is that the FG should not make the mistake of excluding representatives of the various militant groups from the summit, because that would undermine the summit's credibility.

The militants are becoming an increasingly important component of the Niger Delta struggle and this explains why any discussion concerning the growth and development of the volatile region must include them.

Back to your question, I think the government should be very careful about this. Launching a military onslaught on the militants now would be counter-productive. I'm not saying the armed forces should sit back and allow the militants to over run them, or look the other way when the militants are blowing up oil installations in the region. No. At the same time, caution should be the watchword of the government at this critical period.

Already the government has displayed absolute maturity in this regard and I want that to continue. Giving the military the go-ahead to invade the militants' hideouts would throw the region into another round of crisis. This would send wrong signals to the international community. Again, I hope we have not forgotten the Odi massacre of 2001.

And the summit?

Well, it is too early to start making predictions on what direction the summit would take. As I've said, the summit is being put together by the FG to fashion out the way forward for the Niger Delta.

To demonstrate its support for the summit, the UN has released its Under Secretary-General, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, to head the summit. Gambari was a Minister of External Affairs during the Buhari-Idiagbon regime. He is an expert in conflict management and resolution.

He has shown over and over again that he is a man to be trusted. Recently he mediated in the Myanmar (former Burma) crisis and recorded success in that assignment. So, I think he would not disappoint the people that entrusted him with the new assignment.

Your group, Youth Future International, is currently involved in employment generation and capacity building. How far have you gone?

We are fully involved in the growth and development of the average Nigerian youth. We've worked with several partners within and outside the country. Currently, in conjunction with our partners, we are bringing together a series of training and capacity-building workshops for Nigerian youths.

We train youths on how to source for jobs, how to attend job interviews, and how to set up small-scale enterprises and become self-sustaining entrepreneurs. These are some of the workshops we have put in place to prepare the youths, particularly those who have completed the National Youth Service Programme, for the stiff competition in the labour market.

The unemployment rate in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world, with over 60 per cent of Nigerian youths currently unengaged. We also discover that about 40 per cent of Nigerian work force is not gainfully employed.

In our survey, we've discovered that some employers still pay their workers, I mean degree holders, between N10, 000 and N15, 000 monthly. Private school owners are particularly guilty of this. We recently undertook a survey of teachers in private schools in the Lagos metropolis and our findings were shocking.

Some teachers (graduates) were paid a monthly salary of between N8, 000 and N12, 000 respectively. How do you expect them to survive on this salary? That was why many young men, eligible bachelors I would call them, are finding it difficult to settle down. To these people, marriage comes with extra responsibilities and they are not ready for those extra responsibilities yet because of their poor financial status. Many of them would even ask you, what is the essence of settling down if you cannot put food on the table for your family?

These are some of the things we do in Youth Future International, and ours has been a success story.

Regions : Africa

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