By Musa Baba Adamu and Ikechukwu Okaforadi
Senator Ali Muhammad Ndume (APC, Borno South) said on youth empowerment no government had done better than the present administration.
Fielding questions yesterday in Abuja, the Senator however said unless the youth being the beneficiaries, the Civil society groups and the Media “followed the money” by asking asking question on the disbursement of the funds, the aim would be defeated.
Emphasising the danger of leaving over sight duty to the lawmakers alone, Sen Ndume charges the media practitioners to invoke Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to “ follow the money. “
He said President Muhammadu Buhari in the last five years had done his bit by allocating billions of naira to various youth empowerment schemes, but that it was the duty of the beneficiaries to take advantage of gesture by accessing them.
He said apart from the recently released N75 billion to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the government had released billions of naira over the last five years for various youth empowerment schemes.
He said: “ sincerely, Buhari has done his bit. No government has done this much for the youth. But, the beneficiaries must asked the right question of where the money is with a view to accessing them.”
Making allusion to the Federal Government 1,000 jobs for 1, 000 youth across the 774 local governments in the country, he said such gesture had “ massive capacity to rid the street of jobless citizens.”
When asked what difference it would make this time as the National Assembly begins working on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) for the umpteenth time, Sen Ndume said since there was no perfect law anywhere, the ninth assembly had resolved on “breaking the ice” this time, pledging that the law would be passed in good time this time.
On whether his home state, Borno was not apprehensive of joining the oil producing states given the attendant insecurity that comes with such title, he said the was state was eager to join the league.
He said but for the ongoing insurgency in the state, “ by now the state would have been one of the oil producing states in the country. The states looks forward to joining in benefiting from such status. “
