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Olawande advises Nigerian Youth to Shelve Protest
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of State for youth development Ayodele Olawande has called on the Nigerian youth to shelve the planned nationwide protest scheduled to hold in August.
The Minister gave this admonition on Thursday in his office in Abuja.
According to Olawande “there are many ways we can register our displeasure as youth to the government, but a protest that has the potential to snowball into destruction is not an option. We have our whole future ahead of us. Hence, anything that hurts Nigeria affects us more than anyone else”.
While reiterating that the major interventions of the Federal Ministry of Youth have been guided mostly by the yearnings and agitations of the youth,he highlighted various youth-focused initiatives of the Federal government which he said include ,”Young and Secure” initiative ,a campaign aimed at ensuring that the issue which led to the 2020 #EndSars protest do not re-occur; the “Youth Desk” which offers a platform for young Nigerians to table their complaints and concerns in a Coordinated manner.
The Minister stated “Personally, I believe we need to work to bring the government Closer to the Youth, to make it easier for the Youth to feel and experience the the impact of government. This is the reason I have priotized an apolitical engagement, by visiting more than 13 States so far”
Also, “I am aware that a major challenge for our generation is unemployment, which is worsened by the kind of Mismatch that exists between the skills that Majority of us possessed and those that employers in today’s labour market required. Hence, we initiated the Nigerian Youth Academy (NIYA) to up skill the youth and connect them to employers.
“For the Youth who have opted for self employment, the government has made preparations to fully support their aspirations through the Nigerian Youth Investment fund (NYIF). Also, through the grants and Cash transfers, President Tinubu has Provided #50 billion as nano-grants of#50,000 each to 1,300 small businesses in all the 774 local government areas.
“There is also the Consumer Credit Scheme initiated by the President Tinubu to enable Nigerians have access to good and Services, with Payment Spread over time in order to make life easier for all and sundry.
“In the Political Sphere, the President has Opened Up the Political Space like never before, appointing arguably the Largest number of Young People to top Positions in government, while also delivering local governments autonomy to democratise political participation at the grassroot level. Yet, these are Only some of the over 34 key interventions the president has made so far”, the minister recounted.
While Stating that the President is wholly concerned about how to reduce out -of- Pocket expenses for low income families.The minister said the recently approved Student loan and the Consumer Credit Scheme are Some of the key interventions in this regards.
“All the initiatives we are working on may not have addressed all the problems, I am confident that President Tinubu would continue to expand Opportunities for the Youth and Other Categories of Nigerians to thrive”.
“I urge my fellow Youth to be patient and utilise all channels of engaging with the government to table their demands that are yet to be met. The doors to my office are opened at all times to receive your complaints, grievances, and suggestions. Protest which in the long run will muddle up the issues we are fighting for would not advance our cause ” the minister Pleaded.
News
Corps Marshal Charges Staff on Productivity, Recommit To Workers Welfare Programs
Joel Ajayi
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed has charged staff to sustain the tempo of last year’s productivity with a view to improving the service delivery goals of the Corps in 2025, saying staff capacity development, welfare and regular promotion exercise will remain the cornerstones of his Management agenda.
The Corps Marshal stated this during the maiden 2025 Corps Marshal’s parade organized at the FRSC National Headquarters Abuja on Monday, 3rd February, 2025.
While reviewing the Corps’ 2024 activities, Corps Marshal Shehu Mohammed gave kudos to the Management staff, Commanding Officers, Heads of Unit and generality of staff for the sacrifices, initiatives and commitment they demonstrated in making the success achieved in the last year’s activities, especially in the end of year special patrol which possible.
“With your resilience and tenacity, we were able to contain the traffic management challenges and created safer road environment for all travellers during the Christmas and new year celebrations,” he stated.
The Corps Marshal commiserated with the families of the deceased staff who lost their lives in active service, praying for the peaceful repose of their souls. He however stressed the need for staff to take their health seriously by participating in regular fitness exercises and visit hospitals for regular checkups to avoid major health challenges.
On the need for increased productivity, the Corps Marshal charged staff not to rest on their oars in raising the bar of productivity attained last year, assuring that staff who display excellence in their given assignments would be duly rewarded while those that are found to be indolent or unproductive would not go unpunished.
“You must be prepared to respond appropriately to instructions, show excellence in your work and avoid acts of indiscipline including rumour mongering, indolence and any acts capable of dragging the image of the Corps to the muds,” the Corps Marshal stated.
On the 37th anniversary celebration of the FRSC which comes up on 18 February this year, the Corps Marshal congratulated the staff for holding tenaciously onto the values of the Corps as envisioned by the founding fathers, noting that despite the challenges, the organization has remained on track in its commitment to serving humanity over the years.
He vowed to sustain the values of service delivery under his leadership and called on all staff to join in the campaign to make FRSC a leading example of a high performance organization not only in Nigeria but globally.
On staff welfare, the Corps Marshal disclosed that as part of his commitment to creating conducive working and living environments for the staff, the FRSC Staff Cooperative Scheme and the FRSC Housing Cooperative are being strengthened to make them more responsive to the needs of the staff. To this end, he disclosed that arrangement is being made with some reputable House developers to make affordable houses available to the staff while efforts have been completed for the FRSC to operate its own Healthcare Management Organization (HMO).
This, he said will make it possible for the Corps to provide more qualitative healthcare to staff and their families for improved health conditions for all staff.
On the technological innovations of the FRSC, the Corps Marshal stressed the need for staff to download the FRSC Mobile app launched last year to enable them have proper understanding of the Corps’ technical advancement in addressing the traffic management challenges of the country and for them to have information that could assist them to educate members of the public.
Speaking on promotion exercise, the Corps Marshal disclosed that promotion exercises for this year will commence very soon to fill vacant positions starting from those of the Deputy Corps Marshals (DCMs) while others will follow accordingly to make sure that there’s no backlog in promotion matters.
The Corps Marshal further enjoined staff to embrace the digitization policy of the Corps by learning to become more computer literate, saying very soon, the process will be completed and use of papers may become obsolete in most administrative and operational activities of the Corps as every office will be provided with computers to work with.
On the ongoing amendment of the FRSC Establishment Act 2007, the Corps Marshal disclosed that public hearing towards the amendment of the Act was organized by the House of Representatives ast year and enjoined all staff to brace up for greater responsibilities in the expected amendments to justify the efforts.
The Corps Marshal encouraged staff with good ideas to always pass such ideas through their superior officers in line with the channels of communication, saying everyone’s idea is important in moving the Corps to greater heights.
While recommitting to the ideals of the FRSC as envisioned by the founding fathers, the Corps Marshal assured that all necessary steps would be taken to give the staff sense of responsibility and pride, saying no one will be denied of his or her entitlement including proper recognition for any achievement made by the staff in the course of carrying out the official assignment.
The parade address which took place after the Corps Marshal inspected the Quarter Guard and carried out general inspections of the main parade consisting the officers and Marshals of the National Headquarters ended with Three Hearty Cheers to the Corps Marshal.
Staff who spoke shortly after the parade address expressed optimism that this year will be more productive, rewarding and glorious for all the staff. They also wished the Corps Marshal well in his determination to quickly bring positive changes to the FRSC.
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