The Lagos State Council of Elders has called on the government to consider payment of benefits to unemployed youths.
The council’s Chairman, Mr Tajudeen Olusi, made the call at the 8th Town Hall Meeting held in Eti-Osa Constituency on Thursday in Lagos.
The meeting was part of the Lagos State House of Assembly Constituency Stakeholders’ Meeting which held simultaneously in all the constituencies of the state.
It had as its theme, “Post COVID-19 Pandemic: The Challenges and Prospects”.
Olusi said: ‘In Britain for instance, the government gives allowances to those who do not have job, and when such people finally get employment, the government stops the allowances.’
‘In Nigeria, we should sit down and think of the possibility of having that system where the unemployed can be given allowances.’
‘It will require that all unemployed people should be registered; this will also help government in their planning to know the number of unemployed people in all local governments.’
‘With determination and devotion, we shall overcome.’
Olusi also called on every Nigerian, including those in leadership positions, to unite in the fight against corruption.
According to him, such commitment will begin with the individual.
‘Corruption is in every aspect of our lives; let us come together and vow. Let us start from bribery.’
‘If every Nigeria vows not to offer bribes to anybody, including the policeman, bankers, among others, we will reduce the issue of corruption drastically,’ Olusi said.
In his remarks, a resident of Eti-Osa, Mr Olusegun Awonusi, commended the efforts of the lawmaker representing the Constituency, Mr Gbolahan Yishawu, for meeting the needs of the people in his constituency.
‘Yishawu has done so much for the community by putting smiles on faces of the widows, aged, middle-class and less-privileged.’
‘He has been an extraordinary leader, but due to the pandemic, things have been slow.’
‘He is a youth and understands what youths in the society are fighting for, which is something good and he keeps saying to the youths, ‘Let us do the right things,’ Awonusi said.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK