President Muhammadu Buhari has announced that job creation will remain one of the top priorities of his administration’s economic agenda.
Speaking at the 2nd convocation ceremony of the Kaduna State University on Saturday, December 12, Buhari assured Nigerians that his administration would give the fullest possible support to all efforts to create more jobs for youths.
“One of the focal points of this administration is job creation. Job creation will help in the achievement of other objectives of the government such as poverty reduction. Insecurity cannot be divorced from unemployment and poverty because an idle mind, they say, is the devil’s workshop.
“With declining internally generated revenue and over dependence on equally declining oil revenues, there is need to seek other ways of diversifying the economy so as to boost revenue.
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“One of the ways we can achieve this is through the reorientation of our youths towards an entrepreneurial mindset. We must therefore promote and enhance the teaching and learning of entrepreneurial skills in all schools and tertiary institutions, thereby exposing our youth to the basics and rudiments of starting and sustaining their own businesses,” the president said.
Buhari added that his administration would improve ongoing programmes by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, the Bank of Industry, the Bank of Agriculture and other Federal agencies to grant them start-up loans at concessionary rates.
The president belives that the improved programmes will encourage and assist youth to move from being job seekers to job creators.
Finishing his statement, Buhari expressed gratitude to the university for conferring an honourary doctorate degree of letters on him.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics has released its third quarter reporton unemployment and underemployment. According to it, at least 1.5 million Nigerians have become unemployed since President Muhammadu Buhari took office about six months ago.
