The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, says the ministry trained 200,000 youths on Digital Literacy, Skills Acquisition, Entrepreneurship, Employability and Leadership programme.
Dare made the disclosure at a Book Launch titled: “It’s Youth O’clock in Nigeria”, authored by Malam Idris Ojoko, the Chairman of the Forum of 36 States and FCT Chairmen of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), held on Thursday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event also featured the presentation of an award to the minister by NYCN, as the ‘Best Performing Minister in Nigeria.
Represented by Mr Tonye Ebitonye, his Special Assistant on Multimedia, Dare said the award was a call to greater service for the pursuit of excellence, adding that it was a call for more hard work.
” I am more inspired now than ever before to be totally committed to the Federal Government and the mandate of this ministry in drawing up policies, initiatives, programmes and projects that will uplift the Nigerian youths.
“One of our cardinal and most important programmes is the DEEL, an acronym for Digital Literacy and Skills Acquisition, Entrepreneurship, Employability and Leadership.
“Under this Initiative, we have done a lot of work. close to 200,000 youths have undergone one kind of training or the other.
“Our plan from 2022 is to upscale this and get more young people to be beneficiaries of these activities,” he said.
Earlier, the book reviewer and Chairman, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria Ltd., Alhaji Ahmed Wadada, said the book exposed the theory and practice of the roles, challenges and involvement of youths in nation building.
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” So current and future leaders can understand how to plan, design, and evaluate youth programmes that enable the youth to thrive.
” I found the book to be well thought out. Most people are of the belief that our youths are not industrious. I, however, do not believe so to be true.
” The way the author speaks of the roles of youth in nation building and the need to restructure the leadership machinery of Nigeria for more youth participation in the book, speaks high of the youth constituency which we all belong.”
Wadada enjoined the youth to be faithful, committed, courageous and fearless in pursuing their dreams and aspirations to avoid being suppressed or oppressed by those who want to do so.
Also, Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, urged the Nigerian youths to strive to aspire for elective position in the 2023 General Elections.
Represented by his Chief of Staff, Abdulkareem Asuku, Bello, enjoined the youths to imbibe the right attitude and change their mentality of dependence on government and political patronage to self-reliance.
Authored of the book, Ojoko, who explained that the it centred on the role of youth in national development, advised government to provide professional career training institutes to enhance the capacity of youths in the country.
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint 12 young people, not above 40 years; two from each geopolitical zone as Senior Special Assistants and consider the youth constituency for ministerial appointments.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was attended by youths from the 36 states of the federation and FCT.