Oshiomhole lauds Federal Government pro-masses programmes

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole yesterday lauded the various pro-maases and youths initiatives including food for school children and the planned employment of 500,000 youths through the Nigeria Social Investment Programme.

He gave the commendation at a one-day sensitisation workshop on the programme where the Federal Government was represented by Special Adviser to the President on Federal Government Social Investments, Mrs Mariam Uwais.

Uwaise said: “We intend to employ five hundred thousand unemployed graduates in this first year. It is open to all unemployed Nigerian graduates between the ages of 18 and 35. All you need to do is to go on to the portal that has been opened, and it closes on the 31st of August, 2016.

“The government is concerned that despite the fact that we have so many people in Nigeria, fifty eight million of Nigerians are considered poor, and the inequality gap has increased. The gap between male and female, the poverty gap is very large. And there is a need now to ensure that resources are spread more evenly across the country and so our social protection programmes are essentially ones that are aimed at bridging inequalities between the rich and the poor. Since 2000 and today, there has been 26 programmes implemented by the federal government.”

She continued, “In addressing these issues, the Federal Government has come up with five programmes. It has set up an office within the office of the Vice President in the Presidency to ensure effective monitoring to deliver standard mechanism that will be sustainable to avoid duplication of roles to ensure proper coordination and synergy among key ministries and also between the various levels of government.”

On his part, Oshiomhole said: “Let me on behalf of the government and the great people of Edo State appreciate our president, President Muhammadu Buhari for making history in appropriating funds specifically directed at children of the poor in public schools by way of one meal a day for children from primary one to three, recognizing that whereas many Nigerians are poor, some are much poorer than others, and that it is not their fault

“Government has responsibility to identify those ones, the poorest of the poor, not to shed crocodile tears for them or with them, but to boldly appropriate public funds structured in a way that will deliver some relief to these categories of our country men and women.”

He said, “For too long, everybody laments the growing numbers of unemployed youths, and in this democracy, the youths are the most active, they are the most vibrant. Everybody says the youths are the leaders of tomorrow, but we are unable to define when is tomorrow. I believe President Muhammadu Buhari has defined tomorrow to mean today, and that government needs to demonstrate beyond rhetoric that not only do we reject this unacceptable level of youth idleness, but government at the highest levels this have created a scheme that will enable some of these youths to be engaged, include being engaged in teaching, being encouraged to acquire skills, and to make them what they should be: part of our human resource which is the most important resource any country needs to grow on a sustainable basis.”

He continued, “For me, I am particularly excited with the school feeding programme. I am excited because given our shared commitment, and I think the world over that every child has a right, a constitutional right, in fact, inalienable right to go to school. What more can we do not to only to get the child to go to school, but to ensure that at least he is guaranteed a meal while at school so that he will be in a state of mind to be able to benefit from teaching and learning.

“In Edo State, we recognise education as the foundation of any attempt to empower anyone. And that is why have devoted huge resources every year, first by rebuilding our schools and making them attractive to young children, trying to deal with inequality between urban and rural areas by ensuring that the qualities of schools in our cities are exactly the same standard you find in any village where we have rebuild schools. The same furniture you will find in these schools is exactly the same furniture you will find in the most remote village where we have rebuilt the schools and re-equipped them so that our children do not grow up with inferiority complex in relation to the children of the rich, because society cannot enjoy peace on a sustainable basis if there is no justice and fairness.”