In fulfilment of his promise to fight crime and criminality in Anambra State through a massive job creation scheme, Governor Willie Obiano has ordered the commencement of an exercise to create a comprehensive data bank on all unemployed youths in the state, with a view to offering them employment.

Obiano

Announcing this Tuesday at the flag off of a road project at Achina in Aguata Local Government Area of the state, the governor advised unemployed Anambra youths to go to the state Ministry of Youth and Sports as well as the local government council offices for registration.

Obiano’s new administrative drive took its propelling force from his promise in his first Broadcast to Ndi Anambra in April this year, when he had declared the determination of his administration to push for a more crime-free society by creating jobs for the state’s teeming population of youths.

He said: “Ndi Anambra, my administration shall be sensitive and responsive to your needs. To this end, we have realized that our crackdown on criminals must go hand in hand with a robust plan for youth employment.

“We are well aware that if we replace the guns in the hands of our youths with employment letters and seed monies for small-scale businesses, Anambra would be freer from criminals and social miscreants that have denied us a peace of mind.”

Largely hailed as a bold attempt to put a human face to the on-going crackdown on criminals in the state, Obiano’s announcement contains a comprehensive plan to train the youths in various agricultural and farming methods, including poultry, fish-farming, animal husbandry and other life-sustaining skills that will keep the youths off the streets. According to him, the data capturing exercise will also provide his administration a rich reservoir of statistics that would not only help facilitate planning and budgeting but also help the realization of other initiatives as contained in his administration’s Four Pillars of Development.