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Embrace Skill Acquisition, FG Tells Youths
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, yesterday, asked Nigerian youths to embrace the various skill acquisition programmes of the government in order to reduce restiveness and unemployment among them.
The development, the ministry noted, remained the only way designed by the Federal Government to pull 100million Nigerians, mostly youths, out of poverty in the country.
The Minister, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, spoke at the graduation of trainees drawn from the restive North-East zone of the country at the PAN Learning Centre, Kaduna, yesterday.
She also insisted that the government alone could not provide the teeming Nigerian youths with the needed white-collar jobs.
No fewer than 150 youths were drawn from the six states in the North-East – Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi – who had over the years been ravaged by the deadly activities of the Boko Haram insurgents, for the programme.
However, out of the 150 youths signed for the programme, 76 graduated.
The youths were trained in automobile repairs and were sponsored by the North-East Development Commission.
They had three months of rigorous training in various fields such as welding and fabrication, spraying and painting, vehicle maintenance, air conditioner maintenance as well as tyre and wheel balance.
Represented by her Technical Adviser in North-East, Group Captain Sadeeq Shehu (rtd), the minister expressed delight over the graduation and commended the North-East Development Commission for the initiative to train the youths in the automobile sector.
She also urged the youths to make good use of the skills acquired during the training in order to impact positively on other unemployed youths in the zone.
Shehu said, “First, she extends her congratulations to the graduands who have successfully followed the course of training which intended to upscale them to a good start in life. On behalf of the minister, I will enjoin you to please put this skill into use.
“There is no gainsaying that Nigeria is a country blessed with a large population, majority who are youths. The reality is that government cannot give every youth work. So, the best the government can do and an agency like North-East Development Commission is to make sure you are put in a position.
“While some will get government jobs, majority will have to go into private enterprise to ensure that they don’t only employ themselves but become generators of employment. That’s the reality of the situation.
“So, on that note, I must extend the appreciation of the honourable minister to NEDC for this laudable venture which thrives on the Federal Government plan to lift 100million people out of poverty.”
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of the NEDC, Alhaji Mohammed Alkali, had said the commission was considering building a mechanic village for the zone in order to take the restive youths in the area from the streets and make them invaluable to the society.
Giving the rationale behind the training, the NEDC boss said, the idea of the training was to reduce the large numbers of unemployed youths in the area following the 12 years destruction of the area by the Boko Haram insurgents
He said, “The North-East is ravaged by insurgency. The commission as you know is established to assist people back to normal life.
“One of the things we normally do is to see how we can empower displaced persons. Youths as you know form a large proposition of our population, especially in the North-East.
“The zone for the past 12 years had gone through a lot of destructions, schools have been distracted, the whole place destroyed. The number of the unemployed, especially the youths are increasing and the formal jobs either from the public or private sector are becoming minimal.
“So, people should be made to be self-employed. This is why we have chosen advocacy and other career young men can do. And we thought partnering with the PAN Learning Centre in training people in various aspects of technical motor repairs can help them make a living.”
Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, had lauded the courage and commitment of troops of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in North East Nigeria.
Abubakar gave the commendation during a morale-boosting visit to the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI in Maiduguri, Borno.
This is contained in a statement by the Director, Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, yesterday, in Abuja.
The CAS said their sacrifices were etched in the history of the nation, and in the hearts of millions of Nigerians who sleep safer because of the troops’ vigilance.
He emphasised that their bravery and resilience in the face of adversity have not gone unnoticed, saying his visit underscored the vital role airpower plays in neutralising threats and protecting communities.
Abubakar pledged continued investment in cutting-edge technology to empower frontline units.
According to him, the NAF remains steadfast in its mission, guided by leadership, strengthened by unity, and driven by the selfless service of its personnel.
The visit comes at a critical moment, reinforcing the importance of public support for military operations and spotlighting the human element at the heart of national defence.
Nigeria’s soft drinks and beverage market continues to show strong growth potential, making it the leading consumer of soft drinks in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association.
A statement by the VDMA disclosed during a press conference held in Lagos ahead of drinktec 2025, that Nigeria consumed over 53 billion litres of soft drinks in 2024, placing it well ahead of other African countries such as Ghana and South Africa.
Despite challenges such as inflation and a weakening naira, Nigeria’s growing population, rising urbanisation, and expanding middle class are key factors driving demand in the beverage sector.
Bottled water led the segment with 48.7 billion litres sold in 2024, a figure projected to rise by 27% to 62 billion litres by 2028.
Carbonated soft drinks followed with 3.4 billion litres, expected to reach 4.4 billion litres by 2028, while energy drinks are forecasted to grow by 30% over the same period. Juices, though relatively small, are also on an upward trajectory.
“The Nigerian beverage market is expanding quickly due to increasing accessibility and affordability,” VDMA stated, citing data from Euromonitor International.
Set to take place in Munich from 15 to 19 September 2025, drinktec is the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry.
VDMA, a key exhibitor and technical partner for the event, revealed that Nigerian participation is expected to be strong, especially as the country anticipates economic recovery.
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has condemned the recent ban placed on a song by Nigerian musician, Eedris Abdulkareem, describing the development as a return to the culture of censorship and a threat to the right to free expression.
Abdulkareem had waxed a song titled “Tell Your Papa” which criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
In a statement issued from New York University, Abu Dhabi, yesterday, Soyinka criticised the action and its wider implications, saying it echoed past attempts to stifle artistic and socio-political commentary in Nigeria.
“Courtesy of an artist operating in a different genre – the cartoon – who sent me his recent graphic comment on the event, I learnt recently of a return to the culture of censorship with the banning of the product of a music artist, Eedris Abdulkareem,” Soyinka said in the piece posted on PM news.
He expressed irony in suggesting that the ban did not go far enough, stating, “It is not only the allegedly offensive record that should be banned – the musician himself should be proscribed. Next, PMAN, or whatever musical association of which Abdulkareem is member, should also go under the hammer.”
Soyinka noted that he had not listened to the banned song but stressed that the issue transcends content and concerns a fundamental democratic principle.
“It cannot be flouted. That, surely is basic. This is why I feel that we should look on the bright side of any picture and thus recommend the Aleshinloye cartoon – and others in allied vein – as an easy-to-apprehend, easy-to-digest summation of the wisdom of attempting to stifle unpalatable works of art or socio-political commentary,” he said.
He also pointed out the irony that censorship often benefits the targeted artist.
The ban is a boost to the artist’s nest egg, thanks to free governmental promotion. Mr. Abdulkareem must be currently warbling his merry way all the way to the bank. I envy him,” he added.
The literary icon warned that such censorship was not only counterproductive but also dangerous to democratic development.
“We have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseum. We know where it all ends. It is boring, time-wasting, diversionary but most essential of all, subversive of all seizures of the fundamental right of free expression,” Soyinka said.
He warned that the ban creates “a permissive atmosphere of trickle-down power,” where state authorities feel emboldened to clamp down on dissent.
Soyinka’s statement also touched on broader issues of impunity and mob violence in Nigeria, lamenting the recent lynching of 19 youths in Edo State.
“My heart goes out to friends, colleagues and families of victims and traumatised survivors of this senseless slaughter. Our thirst for justice must remain unslaked,” he said.
Referencing the 2022 killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto, Soyinka criticised the culture of impunity, saying, “Identified killers were set free to gloat, and paste their photos on the Social Media… in full daylight glare, in the presence of both citizen voyeurs and security forces.”
He called for accountability, warning that “as long as the culture of impunity is given the sheerest strain of legitimacy in any given cause, such gruesome assaults on our common humanity will continue to prevail.”
Soyinka concluded by urging the relevant regulatory body to reverse what he described as a “petulant irrationality,” warning that any government that only tolerates praise-singers “has already commenced a downhill slide into the abyss.”