Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the National leader of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), has called on the Federal Government to invest
massively in job creation to tackle insecurity and unemployment in the country.
Tinubu made the appeal in a remark at the opening of the
2021 annual Arewa House Lectures, which he chaired on Saturday in Kaduna.
The lecture was on “Reduction of the Cost of Governance for
Inclusive Growth and Youth Development in Northern Nigeria in a Post- COVID-19
era”.
He said that the government must urgently think outside of
the box in finding solutions to the challenges posed by unemployment.
According to him, the frustration and despair among the
youth was largely caused by chronic poverty and breakdown in social
institutions.
“Building vital infrastructures such as irrigation and water
catchment systems will help agriculture, arrest desertification and provide
jobs.
“Another readily available area primed for investment is the
agro allied industry which, for the northern region is particularly
advantageous,” he said.
Tinubu added that the government must implement a national
industrial policy to encourage key industries to begin to employ the country’s
growing population.
On the herder and farmer dispute, the former Lagos State
Governor said the government “must appreciate that martial security measures
alone will not suffice”.
“Problems that are essentially of an economic origin must
also have an economical solution.
“Enhanced security may be the necessary first step, but it
cannot be the only step.
“We cannot resolve this problem by holding on to
one-dimensional answers. We must all be dispassionate in our search for
solutions.
“These challenges are multi-faceted and so the solutions
must be.
“The issue of insecurity, unemployment and extremism has
many things to do with governance, over time. We must tackle our deep and
widespread poverty.
“If we limit government’s role under the erroneous
assumption that government spending is intrinsically unproductive, then we
tether ourselves to failure,” he said.
He also cautioned those advocating for “small government”,
advising them to learn from history.
“We would do well to more critically study how other
populous nations such as the UK, US, Germany and China charted their course
during their formative years.
“You will see that they did not adhere to small government
or the purportedly free market.
“Government engaged in massive spending on infrastructure
and education while also engaging in policies that protected industrial
development and key aspects of the agricultural sector.
“Only when they matured and held advantages over other
nations, did the UK and US begin to champion free markets and small government.
“We would do well to understand this history and learn what
it means for our own pursuit of development,” Tinubu added.
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