The age long issue of unemployment benefits for the youth has once again come to the fore with the Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr Sunday Dare advocating for setting up unemployment benefits for Youth.
Speaking at the ministerial dialogue on socialising the Nigerian social register organised by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in Abuja on Tuesday, Mr Dare said, “Let me thank the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development for putting this together. This event puts in the public domain the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari to address the social register, unemployment.
“There is no country without the poor or those that suffer human distaster. These are mostly women, children, the vulnerable and youth. When you look at greatest beneficiaries, they are the Nigerian people – poor and the vulnerable, but the greatest beneficiaries are the youth.”
Mr Dare further said, “This country needs employment benefit for its unemployed youth because of the huge youth population. We need to collaborate to give our youth some comfort. When you look at the demography, Nigeria has a huge population. The data of the youth is there for everyone to come to terms with. What you have put together will help us to plan and seek for partners.
“This will put Nigeria on the part of progress. Let us see how we can chart a part way for our youth so that we can put together a compelling justification to create a Youth data. We can benchmark this with what obtains in UK, US and other part of the world that takes care of the aged and the youth population.
“We need to match skills acquisition with jobs that are available in our society. Public sectors like the Ministry of Labour, Communications, Smart Agriculture, Digital Economy, Youth and Sports Development and other agencies of government are creating opportunities.
“The part that we are charting under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari is one that lays a solid foundation in all strata of our society. As we build these linkages,we can increase the number of our women and youth that can be lifted out of poverty.”