The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Adebo Ogundoyin has called for increased involvement of Local Governments in the various skills acquisition and vocational training programmes for youths across the country.
The Speaker made the call while ruling on a motion sponsored by the member representing Ogbomoso North State Constituency, Hon. Olubisi Margaret Michael.
He made the call given the rising cost of living and economic hardship being experienced across the country.
Ogundoyin noted that with the continuous rise in unemployment among the youth, and the high cost of living in Nigeria, the government at all levels must be involved in entrepreneurship development programmes for the youths.
He explained that more vocational training programmes would help in reducing the craving for white-collar jobs among young Nigerians.
According to him, as the closest to the grassroots, it is important to involve Local Governments in skills acquisition and capacity-building programmes for the youth to reach out to as many unemployed young people as possible.
“There is a vital need for the involvement of Local Councils in activities and programmes aimed at addressing youth unemployment and promoting economic empowerment. The nation is experiencing economic problems now, so we need to put in place more skill acquisition programmes to enable the youth to survive this hard time,” he said.
He stressed the importance of synergy among all tiers of government in the implementation and coordination of youth development and skills acquisition programmes for the youth to achieve the desired results.
“Government should establish more vocational training programme centres in our Local Governments. This will equally reduce crimes amongst the youth,” he said.
