House of Representatives on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, mandated its relevant committees to investigate the non-implementation of 774,000 youth empowerment jobs despite a presidential directive.
This was just as the House directed the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to secure N250 million in the 2022 budget estimates for projects omitted in Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal constituency of Cross River State.
The resolutions were sequel to two separate motions considered at plenary.
Presenting the first motion titled “Call to Investigate the Presidential Youth Empowerment Scheme” before the House, Muhammed Gudaji Kazaure recalled that on October 12, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari launched the Presidential Youth Empowerment Scheme in Abuja.
He said the aim was to create at least 774,000 empowerment opportunities through direct Youth Empowerment.
The details of the jobs, he said, showed that 1,000 youth per local governments across the six geopolitical zone are selected in the efforts of the Federal Government to eradicate unemployment among the teeming youth.
“The primary role of the Scheme is to provide solutions to the Nigerian youth unemployment challenges through the execution of empowerment initiatives.
“The Scheme will be accessible to the literate, semi-literate, and the non-literate population, and the entry qualification is the ability and capacity to learn and be teachable.
“Since the Scheme was launched in 2020, it is yet to be implemented despite applications by the Nigerian youth,” he said.
Adopting the motion, the mandated its Committees on Youth, Labour, Poverty Alleviation and Finance to investigate the matter and report back in two weeks for further legislative action.
Also considering another motion titled “Urgent Need for Inclusion of Omitted Project in the 2022 Budget Estimates for Calabar Municipal/Odukpani Federal constituency”, presented by Ntufam Eta Mbora at the plenary, the House asked the Niger Delta Affairs ministry to prioritize some projects belonging to the Calabar municipal/Oduakpani federal constituency of Cross River State.
Mbora, in his motion, noted that the responsibilities of the government through its ministries, agencies, parastatals are the provisions of basic social amenities, infrastructures for development, and to provide a conducive environment for its citizens to harness their potentials to improve their standard of living.
Source: Vanguard
