Rep Urges Premium On Women, Youth Empowerment

A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Johnson Oghuma, says women and youth empowerment should be prioritised in Nigeria as way to tackle unemployment and the consequent high rate of crime.
Oghuma, who represents Etsako Federal Constituency in Edo, stated this while fielding questions from newsmen in Benin on Thursday.
He bemoaned the challenges of unemployment in the country and called for collaborative efforts among the three tiers of government as well as individual and corporate organisations.
The lawmaker said such collaboration was necessary because government alone could not address the challenges or unemployment in the county.
Oghuma however said that within two years in office, he had been able to empower 1,500 women and youths in his constituency.
He noted that though he could not provide perfect solution to the problems of unemployment in his area, he would always strive to make an impact.
The lawmaker said such support by privileged Nigerians would help reduce the high rate of unemployment in the country.
“My purpose in life as well as in politics is to provide opportunities for my people, giving hope to the hopeless,” he said.
Oghuma said some beneficiaries of his empowerment programme were trained and supported with grants to start their trade.
He listed the trades the beneficiaries received training on to include, fishery, tailoring, welding, solar power repairs and installation, cosmetology, CCTV installation and repairs, and aluminum fabrication.
According to him those that were trained on fishery got some empowerment item and 500 fingerlings each and a token to start up, adding that other beneficiaries got similar supplies to begin their trades.
“Similarly, about 200 market women got N10, 000 each to boost their businesses, while 160 farmers got sprayers and other items to improve their yields” he added.