Youths Day: Rep wants 5% of annual budgets for Youths

A member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Farah Dagogo, is pushing for legislation to compel the government to focus on economic policies that would be beneficial to the youths.

According to him, though the youths comprise a greater percentage of the country’s population, the government at various levels have failed to harness their potentialities for development.

He said as a youth, he is “determined to change the narrative and that prompted his push for a bill that would provide financial succour for the country’s young population”.

The lawmaker, who represents Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency of Rivers State, made this known during an interview with journalists on International Youths Day with reference to how it affects Nigeria.

The proposed law entitled: ‘Youth Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund (Establishment) Bill, 2021(HB. 1448) is already at the second reading stage on the floor of the House of Representatives.

He explained that the bill, when passed into law, will “create a Fund which shall be used to provide financial support to Nigerian Youths with entrepreneurship skills”.

He stressed that the “proposed law would provide a vehicle for assured socioeconomic security for Nigerian youths, to galvanize them to become employers of labour, self-reliance and captains of industry”.

He expressed optimism that “it will not only reduce unemployment and the social vices that characterize the Nigerian society today but serve as a strong pointer that the country are very particular about its youths and have them in its plan”.

The Federal Lawmaker in the explanatory memorandum of the bill said funding for the ‘Youth Fund’ will not be less than 5% capital estimate proposal from the Federation Account approved as appropriation for the fiscal year.

Other sources of revenue as proposed by the Bill, are; “profits accruing periodically from approved investments made out of the capital in the Youth Fund, one per cent profit as declared by each private entity in the country, other revenue legitimately accruing to the fund by means not provided for in the Bill, and such other sums as may accrue to the capital in the Youth Fund from time to time”.

The breakdown into the sections showed that in “Section 4 (1)) the youths will have a say on how the funds are to be administered by the Youth Fund Management Board, with its Chairman expected to be a youth appointed by the President on recommendation from the Minister of Youths and Sports and other recognized youth bodies”.