Date: 2016-11-14

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, yesterday, in Ilorin, Kwara state formally inaugurated his novel youths empowerment programme. Saraki, under the scheme will provide 40,000 direct jobs for the youths in various vocation.

Speaking at the ceremony which was graced by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, some federal lawmakers and the Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Dr Ali Ahmad, Saraki charged political leaders in the country to empower the youths to be job creators in order to reduce the high unemployment rate in the country.

He equally urged the state government to continue to make the youth empowerment the main trust of its administration. "It is also my hope that from today as well different leaders from all parts of the country will emulate what we are doing and play their role by creating opportunities for our youths.

"I also urge the state government to continue to play special programmes to all the youths and other similar programmes. I want to also appeal to the Kwara state House of Assembly Speaker to look at laws that will can do that can help to create opportunities for a lot of youths who after they get their certificates and they start work so that they have customers to buy their products.

"This is the reason 8th Senate passed the law that has become the talk of the town 'made in Nigeria' products.

"It is our belief that with made in Nigeria products will create opportunities for Nigerians who have products and services will be able to find market."We must think out of the box. These are challenging times for us as leaders and we must contribute our quotas for the empowerment of the youths.

"It is against the backdrop of the economic recession in our country; the difficulty that people are going through particularly the youths that account for about 70 million of our population, of which 50 percent are unemployed, that we initiated this scheme.

"Every time I come home and meet with my constituency i feel the pain and difficulties of the youths, the mothers and fathers who keep on complaining that there is no job, no food on the table and the costs of food have gone up," he stated.