The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State, Joseph Erico Ameh, has decried the high rate of unemployment and moral decadence among the youths of the state.
Ameh, who spoke on Thursday at the stakeholders’ meeting of members of the Vanguard for Good Governance, in Lagos, said the high rate of unemployment in Kogi State had become worrisome.
He bemoaned the salary arrears of about 20 months being owed to the state’s workers, which according to him had caused a lot of poverty in the state even as he lamented the sacking of several workers in the state for no cogent reasons and without paying their entitlements, thereby compounding their suffering.
He said: “Since the Yayaha Bello administration, Kogi has been in the news not for good, but bad. Civil servants commit suicide almost fortnightly as a result of dashed hopes as they have no other means of livelihood.
“Kogi is a civil service state with several untapped mineral resources due to maladministration and lack of focus on the part of the state and total neglect by the Federal Government.
“This has brought a graphical drop in the educational sector. For instance, the federal government declared a state of emergency in the education sector. This is a welcome development that should have started from Kogi where primary schools have remained closed since the inception of the Bello administration.”
A situation he maintained had led to the springing up of private schools, which demand exorbitant school fees that many parents are not able to afford due to backlog of salaries owed them.
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Noting that the youths of Kogi were very industrious and ready to do any legitimate job to sustain themselves and their families rather than stealing, the governorship candidate lamented that recent events have pushed the youths into crime.
His words: “Now, youths have taken to crimes and criminality because of government’s neglect. If I am given the opportunity to govern Kogi State, with my pedigree as a mass employer of labour and security expert, I will do everything within my power to ensure that our youths are returned to the right path, while crimes will be checked.
“There will be Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) in Kogi State to take care of the youths and women and empower them for self-sustenance. I will also deal with issues of education and agriculture.
If these things are taken care of, they will drastically reduce the rate of unemployment as a lot of people will be gainfully employed.”
