A quick one:
I’m suggesting to the Ebonyi State Governor to give more thought on the project of lifting our people from hawking and menial jobs as he has directed two Commissioners to oversee it. The task of achieving this is very enormous. It’s beyond the scope of Commissioners to handle. Ebonyi destitute indigenes doing menial jobs and hawking in Anambra State alone are more than 7,000 in number. They’re more than 4,000 in Enugu State. They are more than 5,000 in Lagos. They are more than 2000 in Abia and so on. It’s not what a Commissioner can handle.
The Commissioner for Commerce and Industry is from a rich family. He has never suffered to feed to know how bad it is. His father was a Senator. His father in-law was a House of Representatives member. His mother is a PhD- holder senior lecturer. Himself is a senior staff of the National Hospital, Abuja. So, he can’t be humble enough to handle this. He cannot even know how to start it. The one of skills doesn’t even have an idea of what to do in this direction.
My suggestion is that the Government should establish an agency of government by law to oversee this humongous, but germane project. Recruitment should be made into the agency which will have an annex in each LGA. Membership of the working committee of the agency should have a practising politician in it. Known clergymen and women, lecturers, artisans, farmers, entertainers, creative writers, senior civil servants and external consultants. Politicians will render the purpose useless and do away with the money if they are brought into its actualisation.
Again, travelling out of the state should be monitored. A young man leaving the state should be asked where he’s going to and the purpose. This is because, most of these children and women prefer the menial jobs and hawking to calming down to acquire skills. Quick money is what they want. But if travelling is checkmated, though not denying a person their right of movement, the menace will be controlled.
All the Development Centres in the state should be converted into skill acquisition centres. Development Centre is not achieving anything other than wasting LGA funds. The idea of DCs should be done away with.
Only one skill acquisition centre won’t solve this problem. Our population is large. You need to lower it to the Development Centres structure, or one for each of the 13 LGAs. It should be structured like boarding school system. Once you come in, you aren’t leaving until there’s an impelling need to do so. One year is enough to learn welding, hairdressing, tailoring, leatherwork, shoemaking, fabrics, painting, plumbing, electrics, roofing, woodwork, drawing, paint production, floriculture, farming, moulding, fabric material making, entertainment, vehicle repairing, vehicle spare parts deal, mobile phone reparation, cream production, electronics, coupling and assembling, dry cleaning, car wash management, decoration, facials, printing, ICT, digital engagements, transportation science, mechanicals, production of nylons, soap making, stitching, pharmaceuticals, pastry, cooking, glassware construction, animal husbandry/livestock farming, trading, photography, videography, designing, steelworks, etc.
State and National Assembly members should be mandated to contribute in the sponsorship. 40% of these hawkers and menial job undertakers are graduates and continuing students. There should employment. Fees payable in our higher institutions should be subsidised for indigenes. There should be full-blown free and compulsory education for primary and secondary schools. Bursary payment should be returned. Some of them who already have skills, but don’t have the capital to activate them should be issued soft loans and grants. This will be taxing and expensive, but once it’s put in place, we’re good to go. The disrespect we enjoy from our sister Igbo states will reduce or phase away completely.
Nwoba Chika Nwoba writes
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