NAN-H-36
Youths
By David Adeoye
Ibadan, Feb 16, 2018 (NAN) The National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Oyo State, has urged youths to develop passion for employable skills that will make them self-reliant.
Mrs Dolapo Dosunmu, the Director of NOA in the state, gave the advice during a Youth Empowerment Seminar on “Conversion of Petrol/Diesel Engines to Liquefied Gas Engines’’ in Ibadan on Friday.
The seminar was organised by the agency in collaboration with THLD Group, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO).
According to Dosunmu, the challenge of unemployment has reached an alarming rate, adding that there was the need for youths to have passion for skills that will make them stand on their own.
“Imbibing the culture of self reliance by acquiring vocational skills even after graduation from tertiary institutions will solve the problem of unemployment.
“In pursuance of making youths to be self reliant, bring about the initiative seminar where some youths would be trained on conversion of petrol/diesel engines to gas engines.
“It is a known fact that globally, there is a shift from fuel to gas because the latter will continue to be cheaper due to its vast global supply.
“Engaging our youths in this auto gas transfer technology training will not only make them self employed but be employers of labour,’’ Dosunmu assured.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Mr Olusegun Olajuwon, the Managing Director of THLD Group, called on Nigerian youths to be more creative and use their talents instead of waiting for government jobs.
Olajuwon said that the aim of his group was to ensure that youths become job providers instead of job seekers.
He noted that the nation was vast with job opportunities but added it was “very unfortunate that some youths hardly recognise opportunities.’’
He disclosed that Auto Gas Initiative was one of the recent opportunities and urged youths to key into the programme that would provide jobs for millions of people.
A motivational speaker, Mr Kunle Olatunji, urged the government to focus more in addressing the unemployment challenge facing among youths in the country.
Olatunji urged government to provide an enabling environment for youths to identify their potential, as well as identify opportunities that abound.
He said government should provide financial capacity for all youth programmes.
The motivational speaker also called for judicious management of grants secured from international donours for youth programmes.
He implored youths to face reality of life and engage in meaningful ventures that would provide them with means of livelihood.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 100 youths across the state participated in the introductory aspect of the training, expected to run for six months in stages. (NAN)
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