N-Power: 43,000 Youths- off the Street

Gov. Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi State on Wednesday said the N-Power programme of the Federal Government had assisted the state tremendously in addressing the problem of unemployment in the state. Speaking on the programme Wednesday while presenting his 2017 budget to the state Assembly, the governor said he was elated by the level of participation of the state, adding that through the scheme, about 43,000 youth had been “removed from the streets”.

“Youth restiveness is a real threat to our socio-political and economic development. “To address this ugly trend, government is operating a multi-dimensional basis by accessing useful intervention from Federal Government, Development Partners, Civil society Organisations, as well as individuals. “In this regard, I am happy to announce that Bauchi State took the third position in the entire nation and first in the North-East sub-region in the just concluded N-Power recruitment exercise by the Federal Government. Through this Federal Government scheme, we have succeeded in removing more than 43,000 youth from the streets,” he said. Abubakar stated that the state government was also doing its best to address the challenge of unemployment through the implementation of Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO). According to him, through YESSO, youth and women from poor and vulnerable homes are targeted for assistance, on a continuous basis. “So far a total of 10,800 households have been enumerated for enrolment into the Conditional Transfer component of the programme, where each household will receive a monthly stipend of N5, 000 for a period of two years. “In addition to this, the Public Workfare component of the YESSO programme will soon engage a total of 14,736 youth on intensive labour related activities in various communities and each participant will receive the sum of N7, 500 on monthly basis for two years,” he said. He recalled that his administration assumed office at a time when the state economy was almost ‘collapsing’. “As difficult as the situation is, we are still determined to steer the affairs of the state out of quagmire. “However, you will agree with me that the change we envisage will definitely not come on a platter of gold, as such, there is therefore the need for all hands to be on deck,” he said.