Kosofe Constituency Takes 200 Youths Fishing

Rebecca Ejifoma

In a bid to pluck the lingering unemployment in the country, Prince Rotimi Agunsoye of the Kosofe Federal Constituency trained 200 unemployed individuals in Kosofe community in various skills; thereby, fostering entrepreneurship and reducing the spate of crime of crime .

The empowerment programme aimed to join hands with the Federal Government’s effort in ensuring the plague of unemployment is exported from the society into thin air.

The Honourable, who dared invited the unemployed, enthused that the initiative is simply to yank youths of restiveness, teach them to fish, ensure graduates are not idle, help those willing to use their heads find a better place in the society and reduce the appalling spate of crime drastically.

According to Mr. Sina Odugbemi, “This is a special programme organised by Honorable Agunsoye of Kosofe. It has been on for more than a month now. He the plan is to make this set of unemployed people from the constituency self-employed individuals or create opportunities to get jobs for them in both private and public sectors.”

Indeed, Agunsoye has used his political and social networks to reach out to the needy. “There was screening it is not an all comer affair, in screening we try to see the seriousness of those that will be involved because it is a little bit different from the other empowerment programme, it is informed by need and once we identify the need it helps us in knowing where to help the people.”

Interestingly, beneficiaries included unemployed varsity graduates, school cert holders and full-time housewives among several others. They were various segments for Graphics and Printing, Fashion Designing, Interior Decoration and Solar Energy while others were assisted in job hunting.

He explained that some of the experts were imported from Abuja. "We have some that everybody wants a scoop from. Dr. Williams has been of serious assistance to this programme and we have also tapped from her experience.”

Swiftly on the heels of this, one of the facilitators, Mrs. Sybel Williams, Rotimi’s initiative as a service to God and humanity as he is making extra effort for each participant to learn a skill, start up a business with it and learn to manage it.

From her words: “It is not about starting a business. Everyone who starts a business will have a mentor that will support him. The structure is set by him because he has seen people give hundreds of thousands to set up a business and after three months they are back to the street.

She continued, “The first week was assessing them as individuals where are they coming from? Who are they? How can they be helped? So many of them are going into apprentice that will enable them learn the practical aspect when they are done a business plan can be put together for them and they we start their business which makes the training unique."

Sadly, Odugbemi decried that the concept of empowerment had been muddled in the past. "Some believe that to empower people all you just need is to give out free money. But here we are going out of that circle we are empowering people by giving them skills, we want them to exchange their skills for money."

He, therefore, encouraged other leaders to emulate Rotimi. “We have about 360 members of House of Representative representing the 360 constituencies in Nigeria. If each of them threads this path, we will have 200 multiplied by 360 people immediately rescued from the unemployment log; thereby, tackling the problem of unemployment to a certain level."

Meanwhile, one of the beneficiaries, Akinleye Hannah, who is trained in photography and event planning, expressed satiation and gratitude. "I'm here because Hon. Rotimi is passionate about youths and improving Nigeria. He is creating opportunities for us to be skilled and offering opportunities to those that already have established businesses to explore. I say a boundless thank you to him."