Rep tasks wealthy Nigerians on job creation, entrepreneurship

Worried by the high rate of unemployment in the country, a member of the House of Representatives member, Abubakar Hassan Fulata, has called on wealthy Nigerians and philanthropists to create enabling platforms for the youths to be gainfully employed as well as assisting them to acquire skills that will make them self reliant.

Speaking when he received executive members of the Evergreen Peace Initiative, a non-governmental organisation in his office, the lawmaker stated that the unemployment rate in the country will continue to be on the increase if job creation is left for the government alone.

Rep. Fulata, who represents Birniwa/Guri/Kirikasama Federal Constituency of Jigawa state said that the time has come for well to do individuals and organizations to encourage the youths to acquire skills that would be a source of sustainable income for them instead of waiting for government to provide white collar jobs for them.

According to him, violent crimes such as cultism, armed robbery, kidnapping among others have been on a steady increase because most young men and women in the country are jobless and are therefore taking to crime as an alternative.

Rep. Fulata, who is the deputy chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions added that the country would be a better place if majority of youths roaming the streets were gainfully employment through skills they acquired either from government platforms or that of individuals and organizations such as the Evergreen Peace Initiative.

“We have brilliant and talented young people in this country; the problem is that most of them have no platforms to exhibit such talents and since the available institutions of government cannot accommodate all of them, time has come for individuals and organizations to create such platforms to showcase their talents.

“I therefore appeal to those individuals and organizations that have the mind to give back to society to create platforms for most of them to acquire skills that can sustain them in life”, he said.

Earlier, National Coordinator of the Evergreen Peace Initiative, Mrs. Margret Odey said that Evergreen Peace Initiative is a non-governmental, non-profit making, religious, ethnic and partisan organisation with bias for peaceful co-existence among Nigerians.

She said that the organisation is involved in creating job opportunities for young Nigerians through skill acquisition programmes in partnership with governments at all levels as well as wealthy individuals and organizations.

The federal lawmaker was thereafter awarded the Evergreen Peace Initiative’s Federal Lawmaker of the year 2016 Award and also installed as Evergreen Peace Ambassador and Patron.