Comr. Ogheneruona Ekpobedefe, Executive Co-ordinator, Concerned Niger Delta Youths for Peace (CNDYP),
By Samuel Ogude
Massive empowerment of our youths as well as other able bodied persons devoid of political undertones has been identified as panacea to their involvement in social vices that are currently bedeviling the nation.
This was disclosed by Comr. Ogheneruona Ekpobedefe, Executive Coordinator, Concerned Niger Delta Youths for Peace (CNDYP), a socio-political pressure group in the Niger Delta region at a media parley in Effurun. He said, an empowered youth will refrain from involvement in kidnapping, armed robbery, ritual killings and other social vices that tend to give Nigeria bad image. Comr. Ekpobedefe said, it is a fact that many youths in Nigeria are idle after their graduation from school hence they are easily lured into various crimes in the society.
According to him, Nigeria is blessed with enough land which, if the youths are empowered by way of providing soft loans and machineries, can go into agriculture as this will not only make them useful to themselves but increase the revenue based of the country.
According to Comr. Ekpobedefe, “there are vast lands in Nigeria wasting away but when our youths are encouraged, they can cultivate these lands to raise income for the country. Youths’ meaningful engagement will not only make them useful to themselves and the society but will put food on their tables and make the country a better secured place.” Comr. Ekpobedefe said, aside agriculture, the average Nigerian youth could also be made to acquire basic entrepreneurial skills, adding, “qualifying for these skills acquisition training programmes should not be tied to political affiliations where a selected few are taken to represent the entire Nigeria population. It should be open to all who are interested”.
He was of the opinion that after training, they should be provided with necessary tools to start their businesses, adding, “those trained should be monitored to see that starter packs given to them are not sold out as it was usually the case in some cases. These trained youths would not only be able to feed themselves but be employer of others to take care of themselves as well. “Agreed, not many youths want to acquire skills, but sincerely, majority of our youths want to be trained in different skills but they don’t have the wherewithal for this training. Such ones should be fished out and given such extensive training and empowered with starter packs, monitored to see that they don’t sell off what they are empowered with.
“Contrary to assumptions that Nigerian youths are lazy, they are not but if they are not empowered in one way or the other after graduation, they would no longer roam the streets. I am therefore calling on the Federal Government, Non-Governmental Organizations, Corporate organizations, religion organizations and concerned individuals that are well do, to fish out these youths in the country to be empowered and if this done, in no distant time, the rate of crime and criminality in the country would be a thing of the past.”
Comr. Ekpobedefe also reminded the youths involved in crimes and criminality on the pretext that there is no job after graduation as there is no way Government alone can employ every one. Comr. Ekpobedefe spoke further, “there is no way the government of the day can employ everybody in the country. My advice is that after graduation, the youths can be creative in line with the course they have studied at school and use it to generate money to take care of their family.
“This is an era of technology, whatever course one has studied in the higher institution whether Polytechnic, College of Education or even University, it can be put into good use to generate money to take care of one’s family, so, the idea that government did not employ one and therefore goes into crime does not work”. He also called on the parents not to push their children into crimes and criminality by expecting so much from them like, to take care the family financially when they are aware that their children, though graduates, have not gotten a lucrative job.
The Executive Coordinator of the group condemned the attitude of parents who don’t question source or sources of their children’s luxurious life especially girls, when they are aware the children are yet to get a job after graduation or those parents who buy sophisticated Android phones for their children to go into Internet fraud popularly called Yahoo.
His words:” l condemn in strong terms, parents who don’t question the source of their children’s sudden wealth whenever their children come home with expensive items when they know that, the child is yet to find a befitting job after graduation”. Comrade Ekpobedefe therefore called for collaborative efforts from government at all levels, Non- governmental organization, Corporate organizations, well-meaning Nigerians and others to help empower and mould the youths for better Nigeria as a nation.