13th January, 2015
Chief Olu Falae, the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to invest 10 per cent of the nation’s budget on youth empowerment, in order to solve the unemployment problem in the country.
Falae made the call in an interview with NAN at the sidelines of the inauguration of the SDP in Auchi.
“I have a book on the way forward for Nigeria and i have a chapter on revamping the economy. In that chapter, i discussed how unemployment can be dealt with in Nigeria.
“We calculated it and it will cost less than 10 per cent of the national budget.
“If we invest 10 per cent of the budget on the future of the youths in Nigeria, is that too much?” he asked.
Falae, a former Minister of Finance, urged the Federal Government to come out with a commercial skills and training programme for the 5 million youths in the country.
“Government should come out with a programme on training and empowerment of the youths.
“In that programme, they can take 5 million youths across Nigeria and give them commercial skills and training that will last between 3, 6 and 9 months.
“And at the end of that period, each of them will be given enough money to start a trade.
“If we train and empower 5 million youths, the one you train will empower another person, which will give you 10 million in one year and in 4 years, 40 million.
“Haven’t we solved the unemployment problem?
“The intention is that everybody should be an employer and everybody should be working; that is the prospect,” he stated.