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Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Chairman, G.U. O Transport, Chief Godwin Ubaka Okeke has appealed to both Federal and State Governments to take immediate actions towards stemming the tide of youth protests to avoid crippling the economy.
Okeke who spoke in Onitsha yesterday said unless government takes far -reaching measures to not only address the yearnings of the youths and assuage their feelings, the ripple effect of the EndSARS protest may be worse than the global pandemic, COVID-19.
While condemning the reported violence and killings that erupted in some parts of the country he also pleaded with the youths to allow the Federal Government and other stakeholders a space of two-three month to implement a reasonable percentage of their demands and the suggestions of well-meaning Nigerians.
He called for strong youth involvement in governance in Nigeria to reduce unemployment and advocated for an improved welfare package of the Police Force and comprehensive police reforms.
Okeke further advocated the setting up of a committee to oversee the recruitment and training of over one million young graduates into various government parastatals to address youth restiveness occasioned by unemployment.
“The members of this committee will oversee the recruitment and training of young graduates into various government parastatals; the police, the DSS, Customs, the Civil Defence, Immigration and the Road Safety Commissions. The training will arm them with the relevant skills they need to performance on the job”
“Again, the youths should look towards the direction of self-reliance through innovations and entrepreneurship as there are no white collar jobs that would be sufficient for the teeming population of Nigeria.
“Additionally, the National youth service corps should be restructured to serve the sole purpose of entrepreneurial development or skill acquisition. After an engaging-three-month training for these fresh graduates, they should be paid a large chunk of NGN500,000. An additional loan of NGN500,000, without an interest rate, can also be made available as an enabler for fresh graduates who want to start-up small scale enterprises” he said.
