Monarch urges Buhari to tackle unemployment

The Punch - Nigeria

The Orangun of Oke Ila, Oba Adedokun Abolarin, has called on the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, to urgently tackle the issue of youth unemployment in order to win the war against insurgency and restiveness in the country.
The monarch said this in an interview with our correspondent on the sidelines of a lecture he delivered to mark ‘Traditional Day’ at the National Youth Service Corps Orientation Camp in Ede, Osun State.
Oba Abolarin said that every Nigerian must be worried about the alarming rate of unemployment among Nigerian youths.
He said, “President-elect (Buhari) should look at the area of youth unemployment. He needs to tackle the problem in order to nip youth restiveness in the bud.
“We can’t have brilliant students like these ones and fail to provide jobs for them, it will be disastrous for the nation. Their roaming about doing nothing is a catalyst for destruction so, we must act fast and every hand must be on deck.
“Not only the government, we must all be responsible in this area. We can’t continue to produce thousands of graduates without providing where they will work.
“It is a time bomb and the President-elect should look into this.”
The monarch also urged corps members and other youths in the country to begin to look inward in order to find something to do, saying this would make them to be engaged productively.
He advised corps members undergoing the three-week orientation programme to pay serious attention to the skill acquisition programme they would be taught while on the camp.
Oba Abolarin said any skill they acquired during their one-year mandatory service could be what would bail them out of the problem of unemployment after service.
The State Coordinator of the NYSC in Osun State, Mrs. Regina Iluebbey, also advised corps members to pay attention to the various skills they would be taught.
She said, “They should take skill acquisition training seriously because that is the way to go now. Employment is not easy to come by and that is why the scheme designed these training to prepare them for life after the service year.
The state coordinator also urged them to respect the cultures and traditions of their host communities after the orientation courses, saying doing this would make their stay enjoyable any where they were posted.