By; Mohammed Kawu, Bauchi.
A Senior lecturer with the Political Science Department of the Bayero University (BUK), Kano, Professor Aliyu Jibia has advocated for the establishment of a National Youth Empowerment Fund that would cater for the needs of youths in the country.
Professor Jibia observed that certain categories of persons in the Nigerian society will, when the fund established, contribute annually more than N100 billion into it.
Jibia who was presenting a paper at the fifth anniversary of Talaka Awareness Initiative (Muryar Talaka) held at the Multi-purpose Indoor Hall, Bauchi weekend, gave a breakdown of the category of contributions to the fund.
He suggested for monthly contribution to the fund of N100 million by the Federal Government, N10 million for each state in the federation and FCT Abuja, N1 million from each of the 774 Local Government Councils in the country.
Others, he enumerated are 10 per cent from each of the 2.5 million barrel of crude being drilled daily amounting to $250, 000, 1% from the take home of each elective and appointive political office holder, as well as 0.1% from each Emir and Chief or Oba in the county.
The lecturer explained that the contributions from the named sources are just meager amounts from their monthly remunerations that could be deducted without difficulty, stressing that unless a methodology is adopted, youth restiveness will continue to retard the country.
Additionally, youth from 18 years and above from the political ward to the federal level will have to be registered by an advocated Youth Empowerment Scheme via a registration form of N100 only which will also earn to the fund about N3 billion based on estimation the youth constitute 60% of the Nigerian population.
Professor Aliyu Jibia described as disheartening that Nigerian governments have for decades failed to address street begging in the society, a phenomenon he recalled has been discarded in the African country of Sudan despite its numerous Qur’anic schools.
According to the don, should each and every patriotic Nigerian contribute one naira daily, the ugly trend of street begging in our cities that constitutes nuisance to the society will be curbed completely, saying however that this contribution is voluntary.
“Why I say voluntary is because any person who could not endeavor to pass a gift will not even give the mandatory Zakat, such persons could not benefit even their blood relatives but their wives’ relatives”, Jibia remarked.
The lecturer therefore advised the Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr. Solomon Dalung to spearhead the establishment of the National Youth Empowerment Scheme that could regulate the fund to provide job opportunities to the Nigerian youths.
He said however that first and foremost, an accurate date for the youth, the graduates, schooling or not, number of those in Qur’anic schools, how many are in Qur’anic or formal school system, how many drop-outs, and how many are intellectually more to skills acquisition than the formal school system within the 774 local government areas in the country.
