“Nigeria has been unfair to her youths and have mortgaged their future – Onyemelukwe

Lady Chidi Onyemelukwe, the leading aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party in the upcoming Anambra 2021 gubernatorial elections, has appealed to members of her party’s electoral college to be given the opportunity to ignite an SME revolution and restore Anambra to its rightful status as the Small and Medium Scale Enterprise (SME) capital of Nigeria.

Onyemelukwe who is tipped by many to win the primaries of her party scheduled to hold this Saturday, made this plea in Awka on Tuesday shortly after arriving the south-east from the just-concluded multi-stakeholders consultative meeting of the party held at Wadata Plaza, Abuja.

Onyemelukwe said, “Nigeria has been unfair to her youths and have mortgaged their future. In consequence, the country keeps seeing massive investments of the creative energies of our young people into destructive ventures.”

She however said she has plans to reverse this ugly trend and champion youth emancipation in Anambra through job and wealth creation policies.

According to her, “we need to broaden economic opportunities for our people, especially the youths. And this, for me, is not a cliché. You may be aware that I served as a Special Assistant to the President on SMEs.

“As President Olusegun Obasanjo’s SA, I, in concert with other colleagues, spearheaded the initiation, planning and implementation of some of the major SME programs and projects of the Government of Nigeria, which later culminated in the formation of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). So when I talk about creation of jobs through SMEs, I am talking from the vantage point of experience.

“Thankfully, Anambra has a vast number of self-starters. The state’s organised private sector is ranked in the top three nationally as the most vibrant, capitalized and intrusive. All the government needs to do is to implement sensible policies that will offer our people the needed support and enabling environment to unleash their creativity and enterprise.

“Under my watch, neighborhood stores, small businesses and private services that support the housing, transport, health, food sectors and urban renewal will receive guaranteed state support through the Small Business Administration (SBA) Commission.

“The plans to do these have been perfected. All I ask now is for the opportunity to ignite the SME revolution our youths so desperately need. We did it in Obasanjo’s government. God willing, we will get the opportunity and replicate that feat in Anambra.”