We will tackle youth restiveness with development, says minister

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, has said the Federal Government is committed to the development of the youth as a panacea for national economic growth.
 
Speaking in Lagos during an interactive session with newsmen, Dare said: “Part of the ways we are responding to the calls for youth development to end youth unemployment and restiveness is pursuing our guiding document, which is the National Youth Policy, with a five-year plan and commitment to providing employment opportunities for youths.
 
“The issue of youth development stands on three legs: education, employment and entrepreneurship. Education is now beyond tertiary certificates. In today’s economy, vocational/technical education is crucial to the other two, generating employment and turning our youths into entrepreneurs. And that is our focus as a ministry in conjunction with other agencies on vocational and technical training,” he said.
 
The minister noted that the initiatives, under the Digital Skills, Employability, Entrepreneurship and Leadership (DEEL) programme, would impact positively on the youth with long-term effect on their wellbeing and development.
 
“We have identified key developmental elements that if properly harnessed, will change the trajectory. Some of the programmes include 75,000 youths trained this year via an online platform in partnership with IBM, another round of training in partnership with AfDB called coding for employment across 15 centres in the country, and a training in conjunction with Microsoft and Google to train young business owners on management skills, among others.”