Senator Osita Izunaso is concerned about the level of unemployment in Nigeria, saying it has hit new highs.
Izunaso, who represents Imo West, raised the concern during his appearance on Channels Television’s Youth Forum, which beamed the searchlight on the skills and knowledge gap among young people.
The lawmaker said many Nigerian youth have little knowledge about events in the country, declaring the unemployment levels a crisis.
“So you see, there’s a lot the youths have to know about politics and what is going on in the country. Some of them don’t even know about government policies,” Senator Izunaso said.
“I’m not even aware. I’m sure that those youths who are standing there today know about what we call the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund, where youths can access funds from the federal government to start up a business, particularly in skill acquisition and in digital assets. How many of them can boast of knowing that?
“So you see, the problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria is something that has reached a stage where we can even declare a crisis period, because the youths don’t even know what to do. They don’t even know what to expect.”
Senator Izunaso challenged young people to do more and have mentors and role models whom they can look up to.
“When we were growing up, we had dreams; we had vision. We have people that we look up to. That if I get to 30 years, I would like to be like so and so person.
“If I get to 40 years, I’d like to be like so-and-so person. Who are your role models? Even within the Nigerian system, who are your role models? Who do you want to look up to? What kind of politics do you want to play? Do you want to be an observer? Do you want to be a participant? Do you want to be an entrepreneur?
“You must have a vision. You must have focus. So I challenge our youth that the time has come for them to have focus, for them to know that this is where they’re heading. You have to start from point A to point B.
“I discovered something very worrisome. A situation where our youths want to get rich quick. Without even knowing what to do, everybody just wanted to get rich quick. That is why you see a lot of youths indulging in things that are not proper, because they want to get rich quick.”
