A stakeholders’ forum of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for voting N110 billion domiciled in the Ministry of Youth Empowerment and Development.
Convener and Chairman of the Forum, Abdullahi Aliyu Katsina, while speaking with some youths at Arewa House, Kaduna, charged the Nigerian youths to make use of the funds to enhance their living conditions.
The one-day seminar was organized for youths of Northern extraction on how to access the empowerment fund.
Katsina expressed confidence that the fund if accessed and properly utilized, will not only address the current economic challenges but also help in tackling the chronic poverty and unemployment crises in the North and Nigeria as a whole.
He commended the Minister of Youth, Dr Jamila Bio Ibrahim for the outstanding leadership qualities she had brought on board, which attracted the President’s attention to the ministry.
The Forum’s Chairman however charged the youths to go and develop their bankable business plans and apply to the youth empowerment fund, so that, they can become employers of labour, rather than looking for unavailable white-collar jobs.
In his keynote address, the Global Director-General of the Coalition of Tinubu Support Groups, Dr. Doyin Johnson, charged the youth to drop the thinking of getting rich quickly.
He said, “Virtually all Nigerian youths want to be rich like Dangote, Adenuga and Otedola, but majority of them don’t want to work hard like Dangote and Otedola.
According to him, “The truth of the matter is that there is no free money under Tinubu Government. His philosophy is to teach you how to catch a fish and not to give you fish.
“The good thing is that President Tinubu has done exceptionally well by recognizing the importance of youth development by voting a whooping N110 billion for youth empowerment.
“But, the youth must know that, to access that fund, they must have bankable proposal. Gone are the days when the government will give out money and people will waste it on frivolous things.
“So, my advice to the youths is to think of business they can do, write beautiful proposals and access the fund. Because, if youth fail to do that, the money at the end of the year, will be returned to the national treasury,” he said.
He blamed the current economic challenge on laziness on the part of the Nigerian youths, saying that, Nigeria has an army of youths who believe in getting rich quickly.
“That is why many are engaged in internet fraud, popularly known as ‘Yahoo-Yahoo’. But, they should know that Yahoo boys don’t end well,” he posited