Ebonyi PDP gov’ship aspirant promises to tackle youth unemployment
A governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi, Chief Fidelis Nwankwo, says he will provide jobs for the youths to check the rising unemployment rate in the state.
Nwankwo, a former Minister of State for Health, said this on Tuesday when he officially declared his interest to run for governor.
He expressed concern that government at various levels had failed to provide employment for the teeming unemployed youths.
He said: “The notion that government does not give employment remains a common mantra in most government circles in the state.
“This is a fallacy and I consider it as an attempt for government to shirk its fundamental responsibility to its citizens.
“One of the most used indices for measuring government success in developed countries is job creation.”
The governorship hopeful pledged to aggresively pursue job creation for youths and the vulnerable, if given the mandate.
“This will be pursued in both the formal and informal sectors with emphasis on filling Ebonyi quotas in Federal Government establishments.
“We will focus on provision of grants, low-interest loans and free training to create businesses in micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs),” he said.
Nwankwo said that he would embark on basic infrastructure in rural areas instead of white-elephant projects to check rural-urban migration.
“Provision of decentralised water system, rural electrification and roads will hopefully trigger off massive growth in MSMEs in the rural areas,” he said.
Chief Solomon Onwe, a former Deputy National Secretary of PDP, appealed to the party delegates not to abandon zoning during the party’s primary election.
Onwe, who was the Chairman of the occasion, urged the delegates to accept any financial inducement but not truncate zoning arrangement.
“I urge the traditional rulers and stakeholders of
Izzi clan to ensure that its chance of producing the governor was not thrown away by a multiplicity of governorship aspirants,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some PDP stakeholders in the state affirmed their support for Nwankwo, a former INEC National Commissioner. (NAN)
