How govt can tackle youth unemployment –Uwais

By Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

One of the major challenges confronting the country is youth unemployment, which has given rise to other issues like insecurity. While the government has attempted to address the challenge of youth unemployment through different empowerment programmes, the problem still persists.

However, an Abuja-based entrepreneur, Uwais Maiwada, said the issue can be addressed through vocational training, as well as a recalibration of Government youth-based empowerment schemes. Maiwada, a molecular biologist, who currently runs a fashion business, says the government can partner with established entrepreneurs to run a Vocational Centres on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis.

How would you assess the Federal Government strategy to combat youth unemployment?

First of all, I think whatever the government is putting out there, needs to be planned properly. The government can just say, okay, we’re putting out this programme for youths. But first of all, there has to be sensitisation. Maybe once these youths are sensitised on the advantages of such, they would want to keep. Secondly, is accessibility. Can I access this programme? Thirdly, is neutrality. Some of these things should be treated based on merit. And there has to be accountability and transparency. Because so many times some of these programmes will be out there but then ghost names are being used rather than actual people.

So, if only the methods and methodology can be transformed in a way that if it’s done for the people, people should be able to access it. If it’s done for the people should be able to see it. And there would be a status identifier to show how many people truly have benefited from such. I think it would drastically reduce the unemployment rate. If the government identifies certain people who have the passion, who are willing and try to give room for us to pitch where we are, where we were, and where we want to be, I think it will give room for enabling the environment, so that we can actually continue to grow. Because growth brings more people in terms of cutting the drastic unemployment rate. Sometimes, youths are given something for this business and then it’s been diverted. For now, some of our youths are really living in lies. People are taking money from the government and instead of building a business, somebody is buying a car. Where will the car take you to? So, while you’re looking at the government, you have to look at the youths too. The government should identify the people that are in this and are actually passionate about it. Once they do identify, we have measures to weigh and then whatever support that one is looking for, it should actually be considered. Because at the end of the day, you are reducing youth unemployment, as the government cannot shoulder everything alone.

How can entrepreneurs contribute to fighting unemployment?

For instance, in the course of business, we came about the Uwais Aid Foundation, a Non-profit organisation that is very big on education. So, we had the Impact Forum in 2025. The Impact Forum, preached transition from class to skills, because automatically, if vocational centres are taken seriously, then, I think it creates a job for you before you’re even done, because when you learn, automatically it makes money for you, if you put it to good use. So, we had that. We did some empowerment for ladies, and with that, I drafted some proposals to certain state executives, the governors, as regards establishing skill centres in their states. This will be sponsored by the state government, but we can actually partner with the state government and run a PPP. So, this skill development centre was to capture mainly fashion, but by side, also certain skills. What we have done has shown that sometimes skill centres don’t fly, because people are just trained and empowered, and you might train somebody and empower the person, and right there the person is selling his tools, his equipment. So, we sought to build a development centre that has a learning centre and has a production centre. So, now, if the government is partnering with maybe some parastatals, schools, hotels, and also paramilitaries, automatically it gives that skill development centre a life: because when you are done with your three months intensive training, you move to the production centre, and automatically with the partnership existing between the government and NYSC, paramilitary, schools, hotels, there’s a market already. So rather than empowering this individual, who might not even take care of the skill that he has acquired, or the equipment that he has been given as an empowerment, he has a job to do. So, the government running such an organisation might be tedious. So, the proposal says it can be run as a PPP. The beneficiaries get their quota, the person running, the facilitator, gets his own quota, and the governments are now getting their own part of the whole thing. So, basically, I would say that is what Uwais has been from the start to what it is now.