By Esenvosa Izah
The Lagos Central Senatorial Candidate, African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr Yomi Idowu, has pledged to initiate a bill for the review of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme, if elected in 2023 general elections.
Idowu, who is currently the Chairman, Lekki Phase 1 Residents Association, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
‘’I believe that every good idea should be periodically reviewed and improved upon as years pass by. Is it not time to re-examine this and improvements be made to move with the present realities?
‘’My suggestion is one year military service for all graduates. This will achieve two things among many, such as every home will have an opportunity of trained personnel to defend them in case of problems.
‘’More of our youths will have reasons to consider joining the military after the one year training which may help address unemployment and security concerns, ‘’ he said.
The ADC candidate, who expressed passion for youth empowerment, said that he had been doing this across five Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state.
According to him, the LGAs are Eti-Osa, Lagos Island, Apapa, Surulere, and Lagos Mainland.
‘’To show my commitment to what I am doing, I have been carrying out empowerment programmes for all my five LGAs.
‘’The programmes are on solar power training, installation, doing business, and POS banking; I have done it in the five LGAs and have started to give the beneficiaries the POS. So far, I have given out 100 POS and intend to distribute more.
‘’I have also been installing solar lamps in dark areas of the communities including Makoko, Orile, to light up the areas.
‘’I have promised the youth that I am going to spend whatever comes to me as allowance to empower them, so that they can be able to feed and work for themselves, thereby reducing the poverty level.
‘’So, I am very much into community development; that is why I said going to the senate will be a plus for me, ‘’ he said.
Speaking on LG autonomy, Idowu said that it was a very crucial bill for the survival of the masses, especially those in the grassroots.
He said that the bill was to ensure that the LGs received their funds allocation directly from the federal account without passing through the state government.
“This will enable them to implement projects that will improve the lives of the masses, including road construction, health, education, provision of water, among others, without having to rely on the state government.
“The LGs will be accountable to the people, who will see all these projects and ask questions; lack of these funds will make them fleece the people, double tax them and make life difficult to live, “ he said. (NAN)
