Poverty, unemployment cause insecurity — Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday in Kaduna State said the security challenge confronting Nigeria cannot be separated from poverty and unemployment, adding that job creation for unemployed youths across the country remains the main priority of his administration.

He stated, ‘‘One of the focal points of this administration is job creation. Because job creation helps in the achievement of other objectives of the government such as poverty reduction and security, which are the major challenges this administration is facing. Insecurity cannot be divorced from unemployment and poverty, because an idle mind, they say, is the devil’s workshop.

“This administration will ensure that Nigerian youths are gainfully employed and youth restiveness curtailed.”

The President stated this at the second convocation ceremony of the Kaduna State University where he received an honorary doctorate alongside billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote.

Buhari noted that employment for youths and job creation were his administration’s main focus after tackling security challenges and checking graft.

The President also emphasised the importance of entrepreneurial education and urged the graduating students to start “small” with what they have in order to be self-reliant.

According to him, it is in recognition of the importance of entrepreneurial skills that the Federal Government, through the National Universities Commission, made it mandatory for all universities to teach entrepreneurship skills in order for graduates to become job creators.

The President linked entrepreneurship skills acquisition to national development and charged the private sector to key into the government’s efforts at promoting entrepreneurship education in the country.

Buhari said, “With the declining internally generated revenue and over-dependence on equally declining oil revenues, there is need to seek other ways of diversifying the economy so as to boost the internal revenue. One of the ways we can achieve this is through reorientation of our youths towards entrepreneur mindset.’’

Earlier in his speech, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Barnabas Qurix, said the university was one of the first to establish entrepreneurship research and development centres in line with the directives of NUC.

“We have also established a skills acquisition centre. I am happy to report that we have fully implemented the teaching of entrepreneurship studies at the second and third year for all students of the university,” he said.

Source: Punch