By Uji Abdullahi Iliyasu
Abuja
The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has named the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Major-General Shuaibu Ibrahim, as its ‘Man of the Year’.
Announcing on Friday in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the centre, Comrade Isaac Ikpa, said General Ibrahim was carefully selected after an online poll that featured four other prominent Nigerians.
Ikpa said General Ibrahim got the highest number of votes ahead of the likes of chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NAFDAC) Brig-General Buba Marwa (rtd); president of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina; the immediate past Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, and founder of Adeleke University Ede, Osun state, Dr Adedeji Adeleke.
Ikpa stated that the NYSC boss was the obvious choice owing to his trail blazing efforts in tackling unemployment through massive youth empowerment.
Ikpa said the NYSC Skills Acquisition & Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) prgramme has been rejuvenated under Ibrahim, empowering hundreds of thousands of young Nigerians for self-reliance.
Ikpa recalled that about 75 per cent of graduates willing to work couldn’t find gainful employment, leading to a surge in crime.
Highlighting data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Ikpa said the country’s unemployment rate was at a point about 30 per cent while the youth underemployment rate stood at 21 per cent.
He said there was a need for drastic action by the government to check the tide.
According to the centre, due to the NYSC’s SAED initiative, many young Nigerians are independent after embracing entrepreneurship.
Ikpa said the other nominees also made impacts in several aspects but the NYSC overwhelmingly touched a critical aspect of the nation.
He noted that thousands of graduates have gone on to become full-scale entrepreneurs and employers of labour.
“Brigadier-General Ibrahim has succeeded in steering the mindset of our youths away from the mirage of white-collar jobs to that of entrepreneurial engagement,” Ikpa said.
While congratulating the NYSC boss, Ikpa urged him to sustain the momentum until every Nigerian graduate becomes an entrepreneur.