The Osun State governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has said the state has the lowest index of unemployment in Nigeria because of the youth engagement programmes of his administration since his assumption of power in 2010.
Addressing the reporter shortly after the fitness walk organised for the newly absorbed 20,000 youths into the state Youths Empowerment Scheme (O-YES) in Osogbo, the state capital, the governor said: โWhat you are witnessing today, the O-YES scheme, started in 2010/11, 100 days after our inauguration and we are still running it.โ
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the September 22 governorship election, Mr. Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola, and his running mate, Gboyega Benedict Alabi, participated in the health walk.
The governor continued: โBecause we are not just a conventional administration like the previous governments, we have designed and empowered our young ones to cater to all needs of the people.
โIt is clear that no government have the capacity to employ all youths but we have, through the O-YES scheme, created opportunities that will engage and take the youths out of vices.
โTwo-third of youths in the O-YES are either in one employment or the other or self-employed. This explains the results of all surveys, political, social, undertaken nationwide which throws up the fact that Osun has the highest index of happiness, lowest unemployment rate in Nigeria, as well as the 7th largest economy in the country.โ
Aregbesola, who said no family regardless of party affiliations had not benefited from the OYES programme, maintained that Osun has set a pace for other states, especially in the area of youths empowerment.
He further said the OYES was the first in the African continent, adding that the success of the programme attracted the attention of the World Bank, which studied it and certified it to be a viable and sustainable solution to the problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria.
He, therefore, enjoined the youths on the need to canvass vote for APC, also to come out en mass and cast their votes for APC, Oyetola comes September 22, 2018.
Meanwhile, Oyetola said the OYES was a laudable scheme which he intends to keep and improve on if elected governor.
According to him: โThe scheme has taken, cumulatively, 80,000 youths off the streets and provided them with a platform to do something productive.
โThe state is very peaceful because the youths are engaged and because they have something to do, they are not vulnerable. The government is encouraging the youths through the scheme to embrace hardwork, to shun vices and also remove vulnerability.โ
The head of the O-YES programme, Col. Enibukun Oyewole (rtd), lauded the state government for setting up the scheme, which he said has transformed the lives of lots of youths in the state.
Oyewole said a lot of the OYES cadets had been sent abroad for training in various skill acquisitions, stating that a sum of N3.6 billion is expended on the scheme annually.
