United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), has said despite Nigeria�s huge foreign exchange earnings from the petroleum sector, it cannot attain full development of its potentials, except present generation of Nigerians changed their mindset and rely less on petrodollars.
It als said if the country hopes to alleviate poverty, wipe out unemployment and attain sustainable development, in line with the Millennium Development Goals, it must concentrate efforts at entrenching a paradigm shift, by encouraging the development of entrepreneurship among its youths, such that young Nigerians would have the capacity to establish small and medium scale enterprises that would create wealth and enormous job opportunities.
UNIDO Representative in Nigeria and Director of the Regional Office for West Africa, Dr David Tommy, gave the advice at the opening of the Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP), floated by a non-governmental organisation, CGMIE Consulting Limited.
Tommy, who applauded the efforts of CGMIE in the training of young Nigerians on entrepreneurial skills, said UNIDO was already exploring ways to encourage youth entrepreneurship across the West African sub-region.
He said there were so many areas young Nigerians needed to acquire skills and establish enterprises, instead of roaming the streets in search of non-existent jobs.
He lamented the disappearance of the groundnut and cotton pyramids, the decline in cocoa, rubber and palm oil exports, since the oil boom era and urged Nigerians not only to revive these sectors, but to ensure that agro-allied produce were turned into value added products for export.
Director General, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Engineer, Mansur Ahmed, also echoed this view, adding that Nigerian youths needed reorientation, to enable them chart a new course in the development of the country.
Mansur, in a keynote address at the ocassion, said the exigencies of modernisation, technological innovations and globalisation have made job creation difficult for any government since industries that used to employ a lot of labour now rely on automation of their operations, resulting in job cuts.
Special Adviser to the President on Manufacturing and Private Sector, Alhaji Ahmed Abdulkadir said the Youth Entrepreneurship Programme was significant, as it represents a platform for setting a new and more purposeful agenda for battling with the immense problem of unemployment, poverty and increased crime wave and political thuggery among youths.
Nov62006