Unemployment: Ooni of Ife harps on community engagement, private sector initiatives
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has called for increased community engagement and private sector-driven initiatives to tackle youth unemployment and economic challenges in Nigeria.
Speaking at the commissioning of the second branch of Ojaja Moore, in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, Oba Ogunwusi emphasized the importance of collective efforts rather than leaving everything to the government.
He said: “What is crucial now is for all hands to be on deck in our Nation, we shouldn’t leave everything to the government, we should have more community engagement, private sector driven initiatives.
“Even traditional rulers shouldn’t be left behind in creating employment, because our country is at a critical stage for us to support the youths and that is the reason behind the expansion of Ojaja Moore.”
Meanwhile, while reflecting his initiative, the monarch disclosed that the expansion of Ojaja Moore was aimed at empowering Nigerian youths.
He described Ojaja Moore as a platform for young entrepreneurs to display their creativity and craftsmanship, while offering a pathway to gainful employment.
According to him, this is a platform for the youth to display their manufacturing powers to display what they can do on basic structures and basic utilization.
“It is very important for us to know that if such platform exists, we don’t need to leave foreign people to do this for us, we need to continue to help ourself”, he said.
