President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja on Tuesday launched an employment generation scheme to assist youths with creative ability and entrepreneurial skills to create jobs.
Launching the programme, tagged, "Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria'' (YOU WIN), at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, the president said it was designed to address the problem of unemployment in the country.
He said the scheme, expected to generate more than 100,000 jobs in three to four years, was created by the ministries of Finance, Youth Development and Communication Technology with the support of the World Bank and DFID.
The president said that unemployment had become one of the biggest challenges in Nigeria and that it could only be addressed with innovative ideas that would empower youths to create jobs.
"My conviction is that if government decides to create enterprises, to employ people, the rate will go at arithmetic means but if we have a programme where we identify some talented creative youth and empower them to employ, the rate of employment will grow in a geometric progression.
"I believe that in that rate we will be able to create jobs faster than thinking about government to set up enterprises.
"We believe that directly working with young talented people or the gifted ones will help in solving the problem of employment,'' he said.
The president said that N50 billion in the 2011 budget set aside for youth employment would be used for the project, while different patterns would be introduced annually for sustainability.
He called on state governors to support the project, which would be launched in the six geo-political zones and the states.
Earlier, the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that the programme was created in fulfilment of the administration's promise to generate employment for the youth and create wealth for the nation.
She said that apart from the support of the World Bank and DFID, the big players in the business community had promised their support, particularly in mentoring the successful young entrepreneurs.
The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, said with the official launch, youths with business innovations should submit their business concepts through the website, "www.youwin.org.ng'', which had been created for the project.
She said such business concepts should be innovative, unique, analytical and practical to be able attract sponsorship.
Johnson said equity grant would be offered to 1,200 successful entrepreneurs to be selected across the six geo-political zones to start or expand their business concepts.
The minister said unsuccessful applicants would be assisted with training and funds to achieve their entrepreneurial idea and plan.
A documentary on a successful youth entrepreneur was shown to the audience while two successful entrepreneurs also shared their experiences on the occasion.
0 comments:
Post a Comment