Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River on Tuesday commenced the recruitment of 8,000 youths to check restiveness and reduce joblessness in the state.
He also announced a flat monthly salary of N30,000 per person at the flagoff of the exercise at the Ayade Industrial Park in Calabar.
Ayade explained that the policy was in furtherance of his promise to give 8,000 youths automatic employment to cushion the economic effect of the partial lockdown in the state.
The governor explained that the initiative, tagged ‘Job Carnival’, was geared towards teaching the youths how to fish rather than handing them fish.
He said it was difficult to continue putting food on people’s tables because it would only make them beggars.
“I do not want to turn my people to beggars who will depend on the gift of food, rather, I have invented a system of only giving food to our old parents, the physically challenged and those who cannot farm.
“A young man with all the energy cannot be allowed to waste, so, we need to take that energy you have and convert it into value, that is why we are gathered here today, it is because we care enough.
“I have no elections to run, but I have to do this personally, I have different people who could do this; it is not my job but I am here personally to oversee this process because I did not seek power for the mere aggrandisement of the office but clearly to serve,” he said.
Ayade said that the job recruitment cuts across the 18 local government areas of the state, including non-indigenes resident in the state.
He added that the job category covered different sectors of the economy with emphasis on Agriculture.
“It is only in Nigeria that you have full students, in Europe you find students who are in school and working at the same time, so here we will give students work too.
“I urge you to use the N30,000 monthly payment judiciously if employed, N30,000 is no money but at least it is better than nothing.
“Here at this industrial park we have many factories and we are ready to employ many more to man them, especially widows.
“I I advise you, choose a job close to your home so that you don’t end up spending all the N30,000 on transport every month, this programme is our own little way of supporting you through this difficult period as a government,” he said.