Information Minister Mr. Labaran Maku says the Goodluck Jonathan administration is implementing deliberate policies aimed at expanding the economy to create employment for the teeming youth of this country. He made the remark in Abuja when the PDP Youth Vanguard presented a letter of appointment to the Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro as the Patron of the organisation in the North-Central Zone.
Mr. Maku said the sustenance of the ongoing reforms in key sectors of the economy would open up opportunities for youth empowerment and job creation.
“PDP in the last 14 years in Nigeria has done so much to transform Nigeria particularly under the leadership of Mr. President, Goodluck Jonathan. We are beginning to see a country that is growing once again; we are beginning to see economy that is growing faster than any other economy in Africa, even faster than India and Brazil. We are growing at 6.7%, which is above average in emerging economies, which are about 5%.
“We are beginning to see jobs for the youths. 178,000 jobs going this year under the SURE-P alone and the target in 370, 000 annually”, he said.
The Minister charged the PDP youth group to be the vanguard for justice and equality in the nation’s polity by insisting that every part of Nigeria is given the opportunity to lead the country with the support and active participation of other constituent units in the federation.
Mr. Maku said President Jonathan deserved the support of the youth to consolidate on the progress recorded under the Transformation Agenda in order to expand the frontiers of development and wealth generation in the country.
“We believe also in justice that every part of this country will have the opportunity to rule Nigeria, and the people of the South-South are just there now for one term and you know in this country, once power moves, it is expected that they will have full measure of their own opportunity and the South South being the part of the country that is producing almost 70% of our national income, needs the support of the rest of the country to complete their natural term of 8 years so that when it moves to another part of the country, definitely, they will also have the opportunity to do same. It went to the South West, they spent their 8 years, it is now in the South South”, he explained.
He said the North Central Geo-political Zone has stood resolutely by the PDP since 1999 and that come rain or sunshine, the zone would always go with the PDP.
Speaking after accepting the offer to serve as the Patron of the PDP Youth Vanguard in the North-Central, Interior Minister Comrade Abba Moro said he would use the position to champion the emergence of a vibrant youth group in the party that would mobilise all sections of the country to pursue a common cause of development.
He urged the PDP youth not to be daunted by the criticism of the opposition but they should remain steadfast in their support for the party to retain the leadership of this country and win over more states in the hands of the opposition in the 2015 general elections.
“Because we have been in power for quite some time in Nigeria, trying to move this country forward, the PDP definitely is a vulnerable organisation that becomes the subject of attack especially from those permanent opposition members that will seek to continue to criticise every step taken by the Federal Government controlled by the PDP and the states controlled by the PDP for the sole purpose of wrestling power from their hands”, he stated.
Furthermore, Comrade Moro remarked that the PDP is waxing stronger, and the youth being the major catalyst for change and development, should complement public enlightenment to convince Nigerians about the progress being recorded in the various sectors of the economy under the present administration.
“I see the appointment and the evolution of a vibrant youth vanguard for the PDP as very welcome development that will properly situate the party to challenge the attacks of our opponents and work to convince Nigerians on the need for consistency and continuity and proper appreciation of the contribution of the PDP to national development”, he said.
While presenting the letter of appointment to the Interior Minister, Comrade Abba Moro, the Head of Department of Youth in the PDP National Secretariat, Mr. Sam Olowomege described the Minister as a vibrant political leader who believes in the cause of the PDP and has the capacity to drive the youth to support the party to retain the reins of power in the country in the 2015 general elections.
