- Says There is FG’s N75bn, $600m, For Grab by Graduates
- Lectures Graduands on How To Be Accomplished Entrepreneurs
- Commends Founder, VC, Alumni, Tasks Management on Collaboration
By Baba Adamu
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed that the President Muhammad Buhari Administration, in it’s determination to rid the nation of Youth’s idleness and unemployment, has set aside N75bn and $600m for distribution to unemployed graduates in the country.
The Vice President who spoke as Special Guest of Honour at the 6th Combined Convocation Ceremony of Nasarawa State University Keffi on Thursday 31/04/2022, told the Graduands that, “in the last seven years, our administration has worked round the clock to ensure that your dreams and abilities find necessary support to come alive for the benefit of all”.
He said to achieve this, “the federal government established N75bn Youth Investment Fund which provides financial support to small businesses in any field. There is als o a new program called Investing In Digital and Creative Enterprise, with over $600m to support Young Tech and Creative Sector Entrepreneurs, and other entrepreneurs through the provision of finance, skills development and infrastructure”.
He further explained that in furtherance of government’s commitment to support Nigerian graduates, in 2021, the federal government partnered with the United Nation Development Program and European Union and Private Sector to start a program called The Jubilee Fellowships Internship Program, the aim of which is, “for the next five years, every year, 20,000 students, after their Youth Service, will be given internship opportunities in private sector companies and in public agencies – the idea of which will be for the participants to gain relevant careers and life skills that will enable them to transition seamlessly into professional business or other public sector careers while also earning very good pay during the period of the internship.
Professor Osinbajo reiterated to the graduands that “these opportunities exist to support your dreams, and you can readily access them irrespective of where you come from”.
The Vice President who congratulated the graduands took time to lecture them on how to be successful, proud and accomplished Entrepreneurs or Business Icons.
He told them that, “now that you have graduated, the world is waiting for you, Nigeria is waiting for you. You must therefore take pride in this moment, as it’s a milestone worthy of celebration in your journey, and which you must see it for what it is – the portal leading you into future careers that will define the fate of families, of industries, of nations, and the world at large”.
He told the graduands that, “young people like yourselves have been the difference between the relative stability of the
old, and the possibilities of the new; the bridge between the past and the future”
He drew their attention to the fact that, “the innovations that have positively disrupted the world, as you know it today, have largely been pioneered by the boundless vision and dreams of young of young people like yourselves, fresh out of school, eager to apply themselves to experiments, to try new things, to make mistakes and to learn from them”
He told them that “you will be doing this great institution and the investment of fate made in you by Professors, Parents and Guardians, a great deal of honour by believing in your own capacity to make a difference”.
He admonished them not to let anyone tell them different things. “You must resist the prevailing cynicism or the suggestion that the system is somehow rigged against them on account of their background, gender, tribe or religion”.
He told them that, “education gives you a platform from which to make something out of yourselves, and this is as true today, as it was two decades ago, when this university was founded”.
“What will set you apart as you journey forward, is how far you are willing to dream, and how much work you are willing to put in”, he said.
He told them to count themselves lucky for belonging to the most advanced generation in human history, a generation that is not bound by the rigid convention of the past, a generation that is not afraid to ask questions, one that has inherited centuries of human innovations and advancement, and that is why you know much more than your predecessors, much more than most of us. There is therefore nothing nothing impossible to accomplish in the face of persistent, innovative and collaborative efforts”.
“Many of you are digital natives, who harness the power of artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, and quantum computing. You know first hand the wide ranging opportunities of digital and mobile technology, which if you can explore, you can earn a wonderful living”, he said.
He advised the graduands that while trying to explore these frontiers to be accomplished entrepreneurs or business men and women, they may face setbacks, and things may not always work out quite the way they expected them to. “If this happens”, he said, “they should know that failure is never the end of it. It is simply a signpost pointing you in a different direction, and it’s like a useful data that you can try and use again, and try to do better. So, keep at it, no matter what”
The Vice President commended the founder of the University and it’s Visitor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu for his bold vision to establish this great citadel of learning.
He also commended successive visitors, Vice Chancellors, particularly, the immediate past Vice Chancellor, Professor Muhammad Akaro Mainoma and the incumbent Vice Chancellor, Professor Suleiman Bala Muhammad and the university’s entire academic and non academic staff for sustaining the quality and vision of the ivory tower as envisioned by its founder.
On the university’s robust, Research and Innovation Directorate, the Vice President encouraged the university management to honour the investment that has been made in it by finding creative ways to further develop it, and make it more active by training our future researchers.
He advised the University to seek for effective and result-oriented collaborations with world class universities, which he argued that it is the key to building the game changing technologies and business of this century. “It’s no longer smart or profitable to go it alone”, h stressed