FG, youths and job creation

T HE N-Power project of the Federal Government which will create about 200,000 jobs for our youths is a commendable effort. However, what percentage of the unemployed will this project take off the streets?

The issue of unemployment is a serious problem in the country, and absorbing 200,000 youths is just like dropping a pin in an ocean. Apart from those who are totally unemployed, there are several others who are under-employed.

So what is the solution? The solution to solving our unemployment challenge lies in developing our agriculture with the brains of our youths.

Let us take rice for example, the Federal Government can train millions of graduates in rice farming, and providing them with everything they need to succeed in their business. At the end of each harvesting season, the government buys all the produced rice, so that they don’t bother themselves with searching for buyers, as they will only be concerned about production.

We all know that rice is a staple food in the country, and instead of creating jobs for Asian farmers, the jobs will be created in the country, while we won’t take our foreign exchange out of the country to buy rice any more. The same thing can be done to other agricultural produce, and I believe this is what former President Goodluck Jonathan wanted to achieve during his administration when he launched the cassava bread initiative.

Dr Jonathan knew Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world, and instead of exporting our cassava to feed animals abroad, he worked towards ensuring that a certain percentage is included in the production of bread.

Of a truth, Nigerians love bread, and we can’t imagine the hundreds of millions of bread that are consumed in the country on a daily basis. So if bakers include cassava flour in their bread, then cassava farmers will instantly become multi-millionaires, as the problem of cassava going to waste will be a thing of the past. It is, therefore, so unfortunate that this idea did not take-off, but we can achieve success using this economic model for other agricultural produce.

In another instance, we spend billions of dollars importing fish into the country, but government can create jobs by empowering fish farmers. They also need adequate training so that they will go beyond producing only catfish.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has a lot to do if unemployment is to be reduced in this country. I, therefore, want the current minister, Dr Audu Ogbe, to seek fresh ideas on how to tackle unemployment through his ministry.

• Dr Tajudeen Alalade,

Ilorin,

Kwara State.