By Ola Ajayi

The fortunes of Abeokuta North/Obafemi Owode, Odeda Federal Constituency will improve tremendously if the teeming youths can be put to work constructively.

This was the thrust of solutions recommended by Mr. Misbau  Aminu, an aspirant to the House of Representatives on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ogun State.

advertisement

Aminu, an engineer from Ajura, Obafemi Owode Local Government, is a frontline contestant for the Abeokuta North/Obafemi Owode/Odeda Federal Constituency seat at the House of Representatives.

Aminu believes a lot needs to be done in education, industrialisation, research and development to improve household income and national development.

Let’s take a look at Nigeria’s economy today, which is less than half a trillion dollars and juxtapose that with our population; we have GDP per head of $2,700. This is far behind South Africa’s over $8,000, China’s over $15,000, oil-rich UAE’s about $40,000, advanced countries like the UK of $40,000 and the US, the biggest economy in the world of about $55,000.”

He said the economy is better in these societies because they do things differently, stating that China has been able to utilise its huge population by putting 776 million people to work and the US, with 3.8 per cent unemployment rate compared to 42 per cent unemployment among our youth in Nigeria.

Nigeria’s population is about 180m with 60 per cent youthful demography but operating under capacity, the productivity is very low with attendant poverty.

Aminu said few Nigerians are working to sustain large numbers and the reason “we’re poor, of 1.3b people in extreme poverty in the world, 10% reside in Nigeria. The economy cannot have significant growth unless we put people to work,” saying whatever growth being experience is on paper and not in the people.”