Former Federal Capital
Territory minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, on Thursday bemoaned the spate of
unemployment in the country, saying despite his connections, he had yet to
secure jobs for his two daughters, who are both holders of Masters Degrees.
El-Rufai said this while delivering a lecture at
the Sixth Annual Alao Aka-Bashorun Lecture, organised by the Nigerian Bar
Association, Ikeja Branch.
The former minister, whose lecture was entitled
Impunity, Injustice and Insecurity: What Role for the Law,’ said Nigeria needed
to create three million jobs yearly to tackle its employment problem.
He said, “Forty-two per cent of Nigerian youths are
unemployed.
“I have two daughters with Masters Degrees and they
are unemployed. They have been at home for more than a year and I cannot get a
job for them.
“We are sitting on a demographic time bomb and
unless we have visionary leaders that are able to plan for the future, we will
have a huge problem.”
According to him, the Nigerian government is
spending N2bn daily on security, instead of investing in infrastructure and
human capital development.
El-Rufai queried the N100bn Amnesty Programme of
the Federal Government, saying it had not solved the problem of pipeline
vandalism and oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
He said, “Our oil production output is at its lowest
since 2009 as a result of oil theft and closure of facilities by oil companies.
“That is why the government is borrowing more than
ever and dipping into the nation’s foreign reserves.”
The former FCT minister added that granting amnesty
to people who take up arms against the state would not solve the problem of
insecurity in Nigeria.
“Even if you grant amnesty to Boko Haram, without
addressing the fundamental issues such as lack of opportunities, poverty and
social injustice, it will not solve the problem,” he said.
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