The immediate past governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has advised the Federal Government to focus on tackling the unemployment crisis in the country in order to end the current economic recession in the country.
Daniel, who spoke in Lagos, said the current recession, which the Nigeria government had been battling with for almost a year, could be effectively addressed if more jobs were created to engage the army of unemployed citizens.
He added that the high number of u unemployed youths in the country could be converted to the nation’s strength if appropriate jobs were created for them.
Recalling his efforts at reducing unemployment while he was at the helm of affairs in Ogun State, Daniel explained that his government never gave contracts to foreign contractors in order to encourage local contractors and also reduce joblessness in the country.
Daniel said, “Having identified unemployment as one of our problems in this country, I believe the on-going administration should think of putting an end to this monster in Nigeria. Nigeria, being the most populous black African nation, needs to take advantage of our population to improve our system.
If our youths are well employed, it will create an avenue for the government to generate more revenue. This can easily be achieved by encouraging our people in various ways like government contracts.
“I can remember when I was the governor of Ogun State, I never gave any contract to foreign contractors in order to encourage our people who were jobless. And that initiative led to the creation of Ogun Road Maintenance Agency, which did several roads in the state like SagamuAbeokuta express road.
“I believe it is time we started thinking in this direction, if we care to be out of this mess that we found ourselves recently.” The former governor, however, applauded the Abia State Governor, Okeize Ikpeazu’s initiatives of promoting Aba products across the nation. He said that the move would help Nigerians to believe in themselves and their worth.
