Fred Edoreh

Caught in the web of slow pace of industrialisation, especially in Africa, thousands of fresh school graduates join millions in the labour market yearly.
In Nigeria, successive federal and state administrations are trailed with failed attempts to provide solutions. Oftentimes, poor in strategic designs and, sometimes, merely politically-motivated, they focus on providing handouts, which only go to sustain consumption, rather than inspire production.
Campaigns into the 2015 elections dwelt heavily on unemployment issues, but, as we complete a four-year cycle, many governments at various levels seem to have disowned their promises, with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), for instance, reporting 3.67 million jobs lost by the fourth quarter of 2016, and a rise in unemployment from 7.51 million by October 2015, to 11.19 million by September 2016, with about 1.5 million more people entering the unemployment bracket by the second and third quarters of 2016.
In 2017, job loss increased to 4.07 million by the third quarter and the unemployed rose further from 11.92 to 15.99 million. Suffice to say these are just official figures on the formal sector as, no doubt, millions more are not captured.
The NBS noted that most affected are the youth, fresh graduates of ages 15 and 24 and older graduates of ages 25 and 34.
It has been globally demonstrated that the way out for nations is to inspire job creation through self-employment rather than have millions marching the streets for non-available white-collar jobs, but matters are not helped here by the educational curricula that pay little or no premium to technical and vocational skills, unlike in Asia, Europe and America, where emphasis in polytechnic knowledge enables tens of millions of cottage, small and medium-scale industrial and commercial enterprises, which form the life of advanced economies.
The difficulty in Nigeria is compounded by the stifling business and investment credit system, which is disconnected from the people and encumbers enterprise. Even when credit schemes have been initiated, they have ended up as mere tools for political patronage and conduits for corruption.
Still, mass mobilisation for productivity remains the panacea, and responsible governments keep developing policies, programmes and enabling environment for citizens’ participation in production as an imperative for nation building.
On this score, only a few governments are demonstrating the intellectual, technical and organisational capacity with the critical political will, sincerity and passion to provide strategic solutions. Delta State stands out in this category with its job creation scheme.
Launched within three months of the administration of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as one of the vehicles for the delivery of his SMART agenda, the initiative envisions a new, stronger Delta with positive youth attitude towards life, employment and business.
It took off with the establishment of the job creation office, which, in conjunction with relevant agencies, developed about five schemes for the engagement and empowerment of Deltans for the creation of micro and small-scale enterprises and support for the sustenance and expansion of existing medium-scale businesses.
Particularly directed at the youths are the Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programmme (STEP) and the Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP).
In simple terms, they entail the training of participants in the technical and business skills of their chosen vocation and providing them starter packs to establish their own businesses.
The truth, however, is that it is a unique socio-economic contract in which the government is partnering the participants to create thousands of small businesses, with government providing all the monetary and material investments for gestation and nurturing while the individual is required to contribute his self-will. Even at that, the government invests in building that requisite new personality in the youth.
As the State Chief Job Creation Officer, Prof. Eric Eboh, said: “The object of STEP and YAGEP is to produce entrepreneurs who have the right mindsets, are well-motivated and totally skilled and equipped for success. This involves life skills and personal effectiveness training to instill the right orientation for personal decision and own responsibility for entrepreneurship and responsibility.”
At the conclusion of the re-orientation programme for the 2017/2018 cycle, many of the participants enthused that they have been mentally reshaped to take their destiny in their hands after the life skill sessions with accomplished entrepreneurs like Mrs. Shimite Bello, executive secretary of the Delta State Micro, Small and Medium Scale Agency, Chief (Mrs.) Mary Iyasere, the state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Barr. (Mrs.) Omoise Siakpere, Chief Edward Mekwuye, head of State Youths Monitoring and Mentoring Agency.
After the meeting of minds, the participants will proceed for skills training in different accredited centres reputed for their success in their specialised vocational and agricultural enterprises by March 1. Depending on the skill being sought, this could take between three to nine months during which period the government provides them stipends for upkeep. Thorough monitoring is brought to bear to ensure discipline and focus on the part of the participants and commitment to providing the right and complete training in line with developed curricula by the trainers, who are also paid.
At the conclusion of the practical training, the participants are, again, taken through critical entrepreneurship and business management sessions, to prepare them to manage their businesses independently, before their starter packs are issued.
For YAGEP trainees in livestock farming and fishery, for instance, the state provides them with the ponds, juveniles and fingerlings and fish feed for six months, a take-off fund of about N50,000 and a monthly welfare allowance of about N15,000 for six months until they make harvest and begin to turn over.
It is, indeed, interesting to see young persons embrace agriculture again. Equally so is the novel experience of organising the farmers into cluster camps, which enables them to enjoy economies of scale. With this structure, the cluster mates can organise themselves into registrable cooperatives that can enable them access various other commercial and governmental business support and expansion schemes.
While the government insists on keeping close to the graduates even after they have established and are running their businesses, the governor has also instructed that ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) should patronise them in their projects. In this regard, the list of businesses established through STEP and YAGEP has been sent to the MDAs for registration as contractors.
The overarching objective of these initiatives is to consciously and concertedly pull Deltans away from the crowd by providing mental, financial, material and advisory support for the regeneration of a new army of self-determined job creators and change agents towards building a stronger Delta.

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• Edoreh writes from Lagos.