Mr Olusegun Soewu, Technical Adviser to Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed on Small and Medium Enterprises, said over N600 million was available for youth empowerment in Kwara.

Soewu announced this at "Kwara Youth in 2016: Creating Sustainable Youth Development and Self-Reliance", organised by Kwara Ministry of Sports and Youth Development in Ilorin on Monday.

He also said several acres of land had been cleared while seedlings and other farm inputs were available for any youth interested in farming.

Mr Bolakale Nuhu, Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, explained that the forum was to share practical ideas for skills acquisition and employment generation to arrest youth unemployment.

Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Hassan Solihu, said another challenge facing youth development was "government pay syndrome."

"This is where youths believe much in government's pay rather than what they could earn through an entrepreneurial engagement", he said.

Solihu stressed the need for change of perception about government to know that it cannot provide everything for the citizens. He advised the youths to only see government as an agent that could only assist in empowering them.

Mr Kazeem Adekanye, President of Kwara chapter of National Youth Council, advocated domestication and implementation of the National Policy on Youth Development in the state.

He urged government at all levels to provide a platform for the youths to survive in the entrepreneurial jobs.

He decried the failure of government to provide them with adequate capital to support their vocational endeavours. Bank representatives at the forum identified lack of sincerity of purpose among the Small and Medium Enterprises loan bidders as reason for their inability to access the facility. (NAN)