26,000 Youths Get Jobs Through YouWiN President Jonathan explains

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday announced that the youth enterprise business scheme known as YouWiN has so far created jobs for about 26,000 youths. Speaking when he launched the third edition of YouWiN at the presidential villa, Abuja, Jonathan noted that the programme was borne out of his administration’s “desire to vigorously confront the growing unemployment rate among the vibrant youth population in our country”. “When we came into office in 2011, youth unemployment in the country stood at a staggering 35 per cent. We considered this unacceptable, and in response, we launched a number of initiatives, which included YouWiN, to help create jobs for our citizens”, he added. Noting that the YouWiN programme was unique in the sense that it depends on Nigerian youths to create jobs for Nigerian youths, the president said, “The programme supports enterprising young men and women to establish and grow businesses that enable them employ their peers and others. I promised that this programme will create at least 80,000 jobs”. He said, “I am happy to report that so far, over 26,000 direct jobs have been created across our six geopolitical zones in various sectors of the economy. This includes 22,000 from YouWiN 1 and nearly 5,000 from YouWiN 2 (YouWiN Women) which commenced disbursement just in September”. Reiterating his belief in the youth of the country, he described them as being not only vibrant but intelligent, resilient and hard working, adding that “when provided the right environment, tools and opportunities, they will transform the economic future of our great country”. “In its short run, there have been so many winning stories from the YouWiN programme. The success rate in implementation and in operation is commendable. The exhibition by a few of the awardees which I have just reviewed confirms that our youths are indeed industrious and highly talented,” he said. He noted that with targeted support, the products and services on display in the YouWiN programme will compete with the best in the world, saying “they will not only serve our domestic needs, they are potentially export revenue earners for this country. “I am exceedingly pleased to learn that some of our youths who received only training and capacity building support, without financial grants, have proven their entrepreneurial skills by starting their own businesses and employing other youths. These commendable efforts challenge us to do more for our youths in the areas of entrepreneurship and job creation”. Jonathan said that the YouWiN programme had demonstrated his administration’s commitment to reward merit and performance. “YouWiN! Grant recipients can confirm that they received the award without ‘knowing’ anybody. There is no ‘godfatherism’ in this programme. Nigeria is the godfather to every one of us”, he noted. “By the end of this 3rd cycle, YouWiN! would have provided entrepreneurship opportunities for 3,600 enterprising youth and created jobs for tens of thousands. The experience and lessons of YouWiN! can now serve as a template for similar entrepreneurship and job creation programmes around the country”, he added. The event was attended by some governors, ministers and other eminent Nigerians