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.
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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