Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s Vice President, over the weekend applauded Osun State Government for prioritizing the welfare of the youths in all its policies and programmes.
He lauded Osun social protection initiatives describing them as sustainable template for national socioeconomic development and all-round transformation.
Osinbajo stated this while addressing the people at the inauguration ceremony of the newly recruited volunteers of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) in Osogbo.
He said Osun has taken the lead in the emancipation of youth for greater productivity in the country as reflected in the successes the state recorded in all its policies and programmes.
The Vice President described OYES as an inspiration that brought the design of N-Power by the Federal Government.
He tasked the newly recruited OYES beneficiaries to be diligent, disciplined, committed and dedicated to the development of their communities, state and the nation at large.
According to him: “When OYES began in Osun, we knew that it was going to be a national programme in terms of its uniqueness and design as this noble initiative led to the establishment of N-Power programme by the Federal Government.
“N-Power programme of the Federal Government was designed from the OYES because when we got to power in 2015, we decided to design a programme for the engagement and employment of youths to prepare them for entrepreneurship and service to community.
“There is no doubting the fact that N-Power is the inspiration of OYES. This is a scheme that had in years past helped to boost the morale of youths, get them engaged and rescued them from restiveness and societal vices.
“This is a programme that is worthy of being copied and extended to the whole country, as our nation stands to benefit greatly from the expansion of this scheme to other states of the federation.
“Today, we have 500,000 N-Power beneficiaries nationwide selected from every local government doing credible things like teaching, public health, agriculture and they are involve in every facet of life.
“So, to the OYES beneficiaries, you have a duty not just to yourself but to your state and country because the future belongs to you as we know that we cannot build this country unless we are disciplined and committed.
“I have seen your commitment: I have seen your discipline and I am sure that you we be the leaders of tomorrow. I congratulate you as this will be the beginning of your success in life.”
Earlier, the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, said the recruitment of the 4th batch OYES cadets was in fulfilment of his electoral promises to the people of the state.
He said the scheme had not only improved the economy of Osun but helped to set a standard for socioeconomic development of the state.
Aregbesola noted that youth engagement has been a matter of utmost concern for his administration since inception, saying his government has provided empowerment for thousands of youths in skill acquisition and establishment of small businesses.
He said the last batch of OYES cadets was recruited in line with the promise his administration made at the beginning of the year that it shall take another batch of 20,000 cadets, adding that he was happy to have delivered on the promise made, despite the financial challenges the state encountered.
Speaking on the success story of the scheme, Aregbesola expressed delight that OYES has impacted positively on Osun.
“When we inaugurated the first batch in 2011, it was in fulfilment of our campaign promise to do so in the first 100 days of our administration.
“We are gratified that OYES has impacted positively on Osun as as captured by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its 2011/2012 report, which shows a drastic reduction in unemployment rate in the state.
“In that report, the five-year unemployment average for Osun was 12.4 per cent but with the introduction of OYES, it came down drastically to three per cent and the least in the country.
“By the same token, the N200 million monthly allowance given to the cadets spread within the economy and increase Osun’s GDP to the seventh largest in the country, according to the same NBS.
“Then Osun joined the enviable league of the few states with the least crime rates in the country. When the youths are engaged, society will have peace. It is a linear correlation.
“The state government and the people benefitted from the services of OYES cadets with their roles of Sanitation Czar, Green Gang, Public Works, Traffic Marshals, Paramedics and Sheriff Guard as they also collaborated with the government on enumeration of Agba Osun, training of escorts during festival periods, enumeration of dilapidated buildings and schools.
“We are happy to note again that OYES cadets also benefited tremendously from the programme, those that participated in the past have good and happy stories to tell. They were given soft landing in OYES-Tech, O-Beef, O-Reap Youth Academy, Odua Farmers Academy, Sheriff Guard, Teachers Corps, Swift Action Squad (SAS) among others just as no one who participated in OYES ever regretted it. From OYES also came the N-Power scheme adopted by the Federal Government from which 40,000 youths have been engaged in Osun, in collaboration with the state government,” Aregbesola said.
In her welcome address, the Commissioner for Engagement and Youth Empowerment, Mrs Mofolake Adetoun Adegboyega, commended Aregbesola for his commitment to human and capital development.
She said the scheme has given hope of a better future to over 60,000 youths that had participated just as it has afforded the beneficiaries the opportunity of contributing to the economic development of the state.
“The scheme enabled then to imbibe the culture of discipline, hard work, dedication to duties and commitment as well as to be economically independent and viable without white collar jobs”, Adegboyega said.
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