NASS to monitor youth empowerment programmes – Senate President

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has assured that the National Assembly will work with the Federal Government to ensure that Nigerian youth fully benefit from government empowerment programmes.

The Senate President gave the assurance at a meeting of traditional rulers, 19 states governors from the northern part of the country and other top officials, held on Monday in Kaduna.

Lawan said “In the National Assembly, we will ensure that the whole country has peace, work with the executive arm of government to bring sanity and ensure the realisation of the aspirations and hopes of our young people.

“We will ensure that agencies handling various empowerment programmes and entrepreneurial schemes engage with the youth and help them to realise their ambitions.”

Lawan said that leaders at all levels, especially in the North, must support the youth to realise their ambitions in life, for the good of all.

“The ball is now in our court as leaders to ensure that we engage our youth for productive and positive development in the region.

“We should be looking for ways and means of empowering them, giving them the right environment and jobs, participate in entrepreneurship; something that will keep them busy and make them have hope of actualisation their genuine aspirations.”

The Senate President said that the meeting reviewed the recent protest in the country and agreed that state governments in the region should create the necessary environment for the youth to be productively and positively engaged.

He commended the youth in the North for largely refusing to engage in violent protest and looting as it occurred in some parts of the country.

“This is an opportunity for me to commend state governors in the North for appealing to our youth not to join the protest, especially when it turned violent,” he added.

He appreciated traditional leaders, Muslim and Christian clerics in the North for also appealing and preaching peace throughout the period of the protest.

To the youth, Sen. Lawan said: “I commend you for listening to the pleas not to take part in the violent protest, as in many parts of the country.”