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 Daily Independent Online.
* Friday,July 16, 2004.
Youth unemployment breeds
violence, says Alli
By
Sanya Adejokun,
Senior Correspondent, Abuja
Plateau
State Administrator, Maj. Gen. Chris Alli (rtd), has observed that youth
unemployment contributed to the spate of violence recorded in the state
in recent times.
He made the observation just as
the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) has reached
an agreement with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to work
together in developing and promoting micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSMEs) to facilitate youth employment and self-reliance.
Alli
said youths in the state, needed skill acquisition programme which
prompted his administration to tasked them to come up with a position
paper on ways of setting up small and medium enterprises to combat
unemployment.
Alli
spoke in Jos last week while receiving in audience, the
Director-General
of SMEDAN, Mrs. Modupe Adelaja and her team who paid him a courtesy
call.The SMEDAN team was in Jos to flag-off the census/survey of micro,
small and medium enterprises in the state.
According
to a release signed by SMEDAN’s Chief Press Officer, Levi Anyikwa, Alli
expressed the hope that the agency would pay greater attention to youths
who in the absence of any worthwhile engagement have become
vulnerable
to all forms of negative influences. “I commend the spirit of the
director-general of SMEDAN for keeping the spirit of
entrepreneurship aglow. For
us in Plateau State, it is our wish to continue to foster the spirit of
entrepreneurship through policy incentives and the entrenchment of a
culture of peace.
“We
have resolved to continue to encourage private sector initiatives and
entrepreneurial culture through sponsoring of seminars and workshops,”
the sole administrator said.
He
pledged that government would continue to patronise goods and services
produced in the state so as to encourage local efforts.
The
SMEDAN also reached an accord with the National Youth Service Corps
(NYSC) to work together on the development and promotion of micro, small
andmedium enterprises (MSMEs) in ensuring youth employment and
self-reliance.
Director
General of SMEDAN, Mrs. Modupe Adelaja and Brig. Gen. Walter Oki,
Director-General of NYSC reached the agreement on Wednesday when the
former visited Oki in his office.
Adelaja
sought the assistance and
partnership
of Oki in some of the agency’s programmes and activities particularly the
current census/survey
of
micro, small and medium enterprises nationwide.
According
to her, SMEDAN intends to use corps members serving in all local
governments areas to complement
efforts
of states and council officials already involved in the exercise.
She
also hinted of plans to carry out
enlightenment
campaign for corps members to prepare and encourage them to venture into
small businesses
and
become self-employed.
In
his response, Oki expressed the readiness of the NYSC to partner with the
agency in its programmes
relating
to inculcation of enterprise into Nigerian youths, saying engagement of
ex-corps members in profitable business would reduce crime wave in the
country.
He
disclosed that the NYSC has introduced Cooperative
Ventures
Scheme designed to teach corps members how to
set
up their own small businesses and promised that the directorate would set
machinery in motion for distribution and gathering of the questionnaires
immediately
after they are delivered by SMEDAN.
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