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.
he 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.El-Rufai said
this while delivering a lecture at the Sixth Annual Alao Aka-Bashorun
Lecture, organised by the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch.
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.
Also
speaking at the event, Prof. Akin Oyebode, advocated life imprisonment
for corrupt public officials as a way of reducing the high incidence of
corruption in the country.
His lecture was entitled, ‘Corruption and Insecurity in the Society: What Role for the Law?’
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