Youth

MR Moses Siasia, the outgoing President, Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF), on Friday decried the high rate of youths exiting the country through illegal routes.

Siasia said this while handing over the baton of leadership to the new President, Mr David Osadolor in Abuja.

According to him, Nigeria is currently experiencing high rate of its youths moving out of the country to developed countries in search of greener pasture. The country political class will soon face the consequences in no distant time.

“Majority of young people exiting the country do so through illegal routes; up to 75 per cent of those who find themselves stuck up in the Mediterranean sea are Nigerians.

“The criminal venture of Yahoo (cybercrime) has become almost inevitable because there are no proper sustainable economic plans for young people,” Siasia said.

The outgoing president said that NYPF in its 10 years of existence had spread across 15 countries, uniting over two million young people.

He said that about 2,963 young people had been able to secure employment both home and abroad under the platform of NYPF, adding that 886 youths had got access to grants to go into lucrative businesses.

According to him, NYPF is encouraging young people who are currently doing well in abroad to come back home and invest in the country.

Siasia said that the NYPF flagship programme, “The annual Niger Delta MSME Summit, is strategically set out to create opportunities for young people to become self-reliant.

Responding, the new President of NYPF said that Nigeria as a developing nation could not grow without vibrant SMEs, a sector he described as critical to the survival of the nation.

He pledged to expand the scope of NYPF by creating a sustainable platform that would ensure its goals were accomplished.

“My life has always been about service and I see this as an opportunity to serve,” he said. NAN)

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December 16, 2023 @ 10:17 GMT|

Tags: David Osadolor Moses Siasia