A Senior lecturer at the Department of Entrepreneurship Studies, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Dr. Vincent Paul on Sunday called on the Federal Government to work towards establishment of skills acquisition centres across the 774 local government reas.
Dr. Paul made the call in Keffi LGA of Nasarawa State during a stakeholders engagement on “Youth Involvement In Crime and Criminalities”, which was organised by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in collaboration with Friends of Police.
He explained that most of youths in the country who are without jobs or skills could easily be convinced by some of the unpatriotic citizens to carryout acts such as kidnapping and banditry.
He noted that idleness among the youths poses a major factor fueling insecurity in the country,
Dr. Vincent Paul, called on the federal government to as a matter of urgency, look towards the direction of ensuring that every young Nigerian citizen has a skill.
He also emphasized the need for political leaders at levels across the country to be transparent and uphold good governance in order to avoid agitations among the young citizens.
“I want to commend the NSCDC and Friends of Police for organising this workshop and interactive session with major stakeholders in Nasarawa State to discuss issues that pertains to insecurity in the society.
“In Nasarawa State and Nigeria as a whole, the youth population is significant and issues such as joblessness, poverty and lack of formal education contributes to the crime rate.
On her part, Serah Irukera, the Deputy Commandant in charge of Intelligence Department of the NSCDC in the state, mentioned the factors contributing to youth involvement in crime to include lack of education and job opportunities, social exclusion and discrimination, dysfunctional family structures and lack of parental guidance, among others.
Earlier in her welcome remark, the Patron of Friends of Police in the state, Associate Prof, Hauwa Mainoma, while thanking the stakeholders for attending the workshop despite their busy schedules, called for collaboration among political, religious and community leaders in order to swiftly tackle the issues of insecurity in the country.
