Less than 24 hours after the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, said the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan will be driven by science, technology and innovation targeted at the youths, Director of Youth Activities at Africa Environmental & Economic Peace Mission (AEEPM), Dr. Joel Maaka has described the claims as lip service.
Udoma had stated this while receiving the Country Representative of the United Nations International Children Education Fund, Mr. Mohammed Malick, in Abuja.
In an interview, Dr. Maaka said “It has been very hard to pin down an strong sustainable programme targeted at youth empowerment by this government that has a human face”.
“We have been hearing of youth’s empowerment and skills development but none has been followed to fruition by the government.
“Some of us that happily enrolled in the YES-P scheme are now demoralized by the unmeetable terms and conditions given by the Bank of Industry for access to funds.
He said a country that is dribbling her youths is only building a system that will fail in the nearest future.
Continuing, he challenged the government to point to any youth tailored scheme that has worked and empowered anybody since the takeoff of this government.
It would be recalled that a statement from Udoma’s Media Adviser, Mr. Akpandem James, said government was working strategically to address the economic challenges of the country with appropriate attention focused on young people, who he described as the source of the country’s economic strength.
According to him, ERGP, known as the country’s medium-term plan, was tailored in such a way that it would be driven largely by ideas and innovation, areas where the young people had comparative advantage, particularly in high-tech perspectives that would urgently transform the economy.
The minister was quoted to have told the UNICEF delegation that the Federal Government was ever ready to collaborate with development agencies who were in the country to assist in beneficial development programmes.
He stressed the importance of financial assistance, adding that as important as funding was in executing programmes, it was not sufficient without ideas and technical assistance to guide spending.
