Youth empowerment programme

The recent announcement of the commencement of a programme for agricultural empowerment and training of youths in three of the six geo-political zones of the country by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development is welcome news. The programme, according to a statement by the ministry, heralds the implementation of its plans for a speedy attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Thousands of youths who are expected to take part in the youth agricultural cooperatives programme will be empowered to set up fish and snail farms, poultries and other agricultural projects. They will also be trained in citizenship and leadership skills. The objective is to empower the youths to become self employed persons who can create employment for others and wealth for themselves.

The progamme is expected to become a nationally adopted approach to resolving youth unemployment. A nationwide zonal consultation on a draft national youth policy is also to begin soon to obtain the input of stakeholders before presentation of the document to the Federal Executive Council for final ratification. The statement added that six leading academics have also been recruited to research into the status of youths nationwide with emphasis on patterns and levels of unemployment, education, health, and wellbeing, among others, with the objective of fashioning the nation’s first youth development index.

This initiative is commendable. The ministry, through this plan, is at once tackling the twin problems of unemployment and food production in the country.

It is gratifying that the Federal Government is taking a step to address the problems of Nigerian youths who appear to have suffered neglect from past administrations. This effort to engage youths in productive agricultural ventures is a step in the right direction. It should go a long way in engaging our restive youths in productive ventures that will also be of immense benefit to the generality of the people.

We are, however, worried about the implementation of this laudable idea. Our national experience, so far, is that the government hardly thinks through its programmes to ensure effective implementation and attainment of set objectives.

This latest initiative from the Federal Ministry of Youth Development reminds us of the Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) and the Green Revolution programmes of the past years. These were laudable programmes at conception, but which fell short of expected objectives as a result of faulty planning and implementation. There is therefore the need for utmost care in the selection of participants, training and disbursement of funds under this programme. There should be thorough planning that should lead to the establishment of thriving farm settlements.

Agricultural experts, with integrity and proven records of performance, should be involved in the programme so that all possible problems that can arise will be foreseen and tackled at the planning stage. Integrity and sincerity of purpose should be the guiding principles for the programme if funds earmarked for it are not to go the way of the billions of naira allocated to the Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP) of the immediate past regime.

There is also the need to involve the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in this project. The ministry should study and learn lessons from the problems the NDE faces in tackling the unemployment challenge in the country.

We advise that this programme should be across board. Let at least one state in each geo-political zone of the country be used as pilots. This should be with the objective of eventually implementing the programme in all other states in the country. The ministry should also widely publicise this programme so that all interested youths can benefit from it. There should be no alienation of any class of Nigerians or any part of the country.