By Chimezie Godfrey
As part of its agenda to eradicate poverty, the Federal Government has said that it would empower and create jobs for young people to enable them expand the economic frontiers of the country.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu made this known recently when received the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Nigeria, His Excellency Wouter Plomp when he paid her a courtesy visit in Abuja.
Dr Edu noted that youth empowerment was part of the strategies that would be deployed by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to eradicate poverty in the land.
She therefore assured that the federal government would collaborate with Europe and begining with the Netherlands to create opportunities that would improve the lives of the teaming Nigerian youths.
She said,”His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said that part of his agenda is to ensure that he eradicate poverty and puts young people on the front burner of his administration, empower them, create jobs for them, and create a more conducive environment where their minds can really go all the way and achieve whatever it is they set out to achieve.
“It’s unfortunate that we have Nigerians, young people, who should be contributing to the development of the nation, go to loose their lives in the Mediterranean Sea, and go to very awkward conditions outside the country where this energy, this young minds with great innovation and ability to expand the economic frontiers of the country should be actually contributing here to all of this.
“I believe very strongly that the Rabat Process Meeting was an avenue to bring all of this to the forefront. The meeting which will be co-hosted with Netherlands would also be another opportunity to really look into youth and their developmental capacity.
“We will look forward to this meeting in person and to work with the team and see how we can successfully profer solutions for Nigerians and of course the ways in which we can collaborate with Europe and Netherlands to improve the lives of our young people and the opportunities to be accessed to.”
The Minister added,”We would use this opportunity to also inform you about one of the new innovations that will get on board to address humanitarian issues.
“Poverty alleviation, which also includes job for this young people and opportunities for them, which is Presidential Humanitarian Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund and we’ll be needing your assistance technically, and your contributions as a nation to that fund to really help address humanitarian crisis in Nigeria as well as this issues which we will be discussing at this event. So we are counting on your continuous support.”
Responding, the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Nigeria, Mr. Wouter Plomp said he was happy that the both countries were doing something together, adding that Nigeria and the Netherlands would collaborate to end the tremendous hardship of young people in the country.
He disclosed that the Netherlands through the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) had already started financing youth empowerment projects in Nigeria, particularly in Benin City, Edo state where young women and men were trained in IT, tailoring and leather work, among other kinds of skills.
He said,”I have come to appreciate enormously the creativity, innovation, the drive and the commitment of Nigerian young women and young men doing what you’re best at, and that is often enterprise private sector in producing things, innovation.
“And actually we had the privilege of visiting Benin City where we saw some of the projects that the Netherlands is financing through the International Organisation of migration where young women and men get to be trained in IT, tailoring and leather work, so all kinds of skills to effect their future in Nigeria to contribute to the development of Nigeria.”
Mr Plomp assured that the Netherlands would collaborate with Nigeria to put an end to hardship faced by young people in the country.
“At the same time we are also interested in exploring with you those legal pathways, opportunities, circular migration is definitely also interesting pathway.
“At the same time, we find it extremely important to work together with Nigeria for trying to end the tremendous hardship of young people. Indeed, in the desert or in the Mediterranean. We share a common goal in addressing that situation and working together to overcome that.
“We would be really happy for you to be in the Netherlands and we are working also on some kind of site programmes for you, Madam Minister, to indeed see what kinds of meetings we can organise with other stakeholders in the Netherlands to make your visit to the Netherlands as effective and productive as possible, because we really see it also in the framework of our partnership,” he said.
