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FG, World Bank Commit To Boost Nigerian Youth Skills, Mental Health, Others

Published

8 months ago

January 26, 2024

Joel Ajayi

The Federal Government and World Bank have reiterated their commitment towards enhancing the capacity and boosting skills of Nigerian youth, as well as improving their mental health to contribute their quota to the overall development of their fatherland.

It will be recalled that the issue of youth unemployment cannot be overemphasized as millions of Nigerian youths enter the labour market every year.

The commitment to address youth unemployment, a significant issue in Nigeria, is evident in the efforts to empower young people to contribute to the overall development of the country.

The collaboration between the federal government of Nigeria and the World Bank is centered on enhancing the capacity and skills of Nigerian youth, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship, mental health, and skill assessment audits.

Speaking on Friday, in Abuja when the World Bank West African Practice Manager Nigeria delegations paid her courtesy visit in her office the Minister of Ministry of Youth Development Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim expressed that the ministry is making progress because all the activities it embarked on since assuming the office is now pay off.

According to her, we are ready to facilitate good working relationships with organizations that will prosper many Nigerian Youths.

“And for me as the Minister of Youth Development on behalf of the ministry, we’re ready to facilitate for the world lighting and the ministry team to further engage so that we do things according to know what the bureaucratic processes require.”

Minister of Youth Development, however, uttered enthusiasm for the project proposal from the World Bank.

However, She advocates for the youth well-being department to address mental health sexual health, and other challenges

On his own, the leader of the delegation of the World Bank West African Practice Manager Nigeria Tekabe Ayalew Belay Analyzed the state of Nigerian youth across various categories, including intrapreneurship, civic participation, and health status.

He said: “There is a need to boost the skill of Nigerian youth, and collaboration aims to provide a comprehensive report on youth in Nigeria by mid-March, with a focus on data-driven insights and collaboration with the ministry.

“We need to discuss and agree is a look at the improvement that entrepreneurship state of the youth of Nigeria.

“I think we also wanted to see the empowerment of youth the rights, their civic participation, their activities, the contributions, even vote the voter turnout does happen when we think those are important kinds of indicators. To the extent that we get the data, we want to give you a fuller picture. Another aspect to wanting to look at it even broadening the analysis. We can even look at the state of the youth in terms of the health status, the mental health, substance abuse, early marriage, all those issues.”

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Youth Development, Dr.Umar Ahmed Dunoma, welcomed the World Bank delegation and expressed the readiness of the Ministry to collaborate with world bodies to better the Nigeria of Nigerians.

He stated that the ministry is working so hard to ensure it meets its mandate of providing an enabling and empowering environment for Youth development as well as ensuring that National Youth policy is in place for the benefit of the youth.

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How Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso Repositioning the Raw Materials Sector For Economic Diversification

Published

4 days ago

September 3, 2024

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

As we embark on a journey, we always pray for an able, experienced, and courageous driver, pilot, or sailor depending on the means of transportation.

This is because the captain will have enough experience and boldness to navigate out of turbulence and to bring all the passengers and crew to the intended destination.

Interestingly, these fine qualities of ability, experience, boldness, and many more, abound in the man, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso, who we all are pleased was appointed the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, the Director General/CEO by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a few months ago.

This is because he has brought his knowledge, ability, experience, and doggedness to bear in carrying out his assignment in charge of the Council.

The RMRDC, operating under the Federal

The Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, is pivotal in driving Nigeria’s industrial growth by optimizing local raw materials exploitation, development, and utilization. RMRDC, ab initio, was conceived as a child of necessity when Nigeria was reeling from the throes of global recession and plummeting crude oil prices.

Without an iota of doubt, today, the council is experiencing a transformation with massive innovation in raw material exploitation, development, and utilization, supporting business and industrial growth, and contributing to Nigeria’s economic prosperity.

Speaking this during a press briefing on Tuesday, in Abuja to commemorate his 100 days in office said the council is laying a solid foundation through numerous innovations that will further enhance growth in the country.

According to him, in the past 100 days, my strategic pursuits have been to lay solid foundations for enduring success in these goals.

“Upon assuming this position, I set five crucial deliverables which include, refocusing the Council as a premier research institution; Strengthening the Council’s productivity and operational efficiency; Significantly improving the staff welfare to be the best in the class of similar organizations;

“Others include, Boosting the Council’s visibility and instituting remarkable culture change that encourages ownership and productivity as well as Strengthening and deepening the Council’s place in the international arena.”

While speaking on his Achievements so far, the DG revealed: “My first task, therefore, was to implement a strategic goal-setting for the Council’s staff to define and set out clear objectives and targets to be achieved by the Council within a specified period towards refocusing on this historical mandate. We unleashed five significant initiatives in that regard.

“The nationwide raw material data collection exercise that focused on technical and investment information. erships to drive our mission forward.

“The restructuring and renaming of the former Technology Innovation Complex (TIC) at the Obasanjo Space Center at Airport Road, Abuja, to a Research and Demonstration Plants Complex (RDPC). This complex will be Africa’s first center of excellence in raw material research, featuring state-of-the-art laboratories, technology development workshops, and proof of concept demonstrations.

“We have reactivated the Council’s Journal and repositioned it internationally. The repositioned Journal of Raw Material Research [JORMAR] will host RMRDC’s researchers’ publications, which are crucial in promoting awareness, facilitating knowledge sharing, and informing stakeholders about the opportunities and challenges in Nigeria’s raw materials sector.

“The collaboration with universities and academies will strengthen our capacity for conducting market-guided research, ensuring sustained workforce training while deepening our orientation in science.

The council has reformulated a new template for all our research proposals to ensure and sustain a clear departure from the old culture of blue-sky and deliberately endless research.

Speaking further, Prof Nwanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso stated that Staff welfare remains a top priority as an issue of unpaid salaries is settled as well as set up a comprehensive welfare program.

“Similarly, we established the RMRDC Training School to sustainably build our staff and stakeholders’ capacity to further the staff welfare improvement goal.

“We are committed to openness, inclusiveness, and performance management and have initiated steps to continuously improve staff ownership, orchestrate transformative culture change, boost our corporate visibility, and enhance

“To further strengthen our visibility and communication strategies, we are upgrading our media infrastructure, which includes the launch of the RMRDC online media platform, The RMRDC TV Online.

“Additionally, we are working hard to effectively enhance the intellectual property and patent portfolio of RMRDC from its current 40 to approximately 200 new patents within the next 24 months. This proactive approach secures valuable IP assets and positions the Council as a leader in innovation within the raw materials sector, contributing to Nigeria’s overall economic growth.

“As well as launching an e-registration and certification portal to enhance transparency in the raw materials sector,” DG revealed.

He however reaffirmed his commitment to reshape the future of research, technology, and innovation, driving Nigeria towards an industrially vibrant and technologically resilient economy.

“As I mark 100 days in office, I boldly say that the Council is on the verge of rewriting its history.

“I believe that in no distant future, RMRDC will play a leading role in enhancing raw materials’ development to boost raw materials’ industrial trial processing and attain sustainable industrial growth in Nigeria.

DG, however, applauded the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, for his unwavering support and mentorship, saying the Minister’s leadership has been instrumental in the progress made so far.

In his opening remarks, the Directorate of Corporate Affairs, Mr Chucks Ngaha commended the hard-working DG who has weathered the storm further to put the Council on the ladder of more prosperity.

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