Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has unveiled a Private Public Partnership Community Development (PPPCD) plan to create 50,000 jobs for Nigerian youths, saying governments all over the world cannot transform the economy successfully without a public private partnership .
    
Ooni Ogunwusi, in the company of the Executive Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a government-owned Chinese company, at his Ile Oodua palace in Ile-Ife. He said the company would invest in agriculture, green energy and explore the gold, lithium and other mineral resources in Ile-Ife and Osun at large.
    
The monarch noted that the Chinese company, China Overseas Energy Development Technology Limited, would focus on the development of agriculture, mechanised farming, cocoa processing in large quantitites, adding that solar energy, exploration of lithium, gold, liquefied natural gas and other major mineral resources would be part of their goals. Ogunwusi expressed confidence in the firm.
   
A statement issued by the Director, Media and Public Affairs, Ooni’s palace, yesterday read: “The partnership we are signing today with China Overseas Technology Development Company Limited is going to give over 50,000 employment opportunities to Osun indigenes.
    
“These people would first invest in agriculture, whereby they would set up a cocoa processing plant in Ife, where they are going to have their agricultural hub.”
   
The monarch said the future of Nigeria lies in lithium, adding that oil and gas would go down and lithium would be the only assistance to power batteries, electric cars, among others.