Date: 2021-12-02

Igbomina National Students Union (INSU) in Kwara State with support of its sponsor, Engineer Adebayo Babalola, has empowered 45 youth of the Igbomina land with the provision of vocational items.

Some of the items distributed include ICT materials such as laptops; sewing machines for trained tailors; hair dryers for those in hairdressing trade, ovens for those in culinary services; three power generating sets for those into barbing; and make up kits for those in the make-up business.

Speaking at the second edition of the event held at Igbomina House in Ilorin on Wednesday, the sponsor of the programme, Engineer Babalola, challenged Nigerian youth, especially, the youth of Igbomina stock, to make use of their numerical dominance in Nigeria's population to count for something positive. "As we are slowly approaching 2023, a time when the choice of a new set of political leadership will be made to direct the affairs of Nigeria at all levels, it is up to you, the young people of Kwara and Nigeria to ensure that you use your numerical dominance in population to elect credible, intellectually sound and morally upright leaders.

"I believe that you, the young people of Nigeria are no longer leaders of tomorrow but the leaders and deciders of today! That is if you can rise to the occasion through becoming active participants in the political, economic, social and cultural activities in our country today".

Babalola also said that the word 'empowerment, as it is now being commonly used, is a clear characteristic of the failure in leadership, failure in democracy and failure in our political processes.

"I don't need to deceive you by saying that most of the leaders for who many of you are canvassing for, do not actually have your best interest at heart. If not, how do you wish to characterize the current situation in which the vast majority of graduates who are yearly shipped into the labour market have no clearcut government policy which is targeted at ensuring that they don't end up struggling like I did for more than seven years after I graduated from the University of Ibadan?".

He then called on the federal, states, and local governments to create enabling environment for people to establish businesses, saying that, "once those businesses are established, the owners will pick up and employ people and therefore mop up unemployment.

"Government is the major employer of labour. When you create an environment that is enabling, you create a system whereby entrepreneurs can establish businesses and those businesses will employ more because they will need people to help them".

Also speaking, the National President, Omo Ibile Igbomina, Engineer Timothy Adebayo, who also thanked Engineer Babalola for consistently blessing and mentoring youth in the area advised beneficiaries to use the facilities to build their future.

President of Igbomina National Student Union, Mr Bolaji Sodiq, extolled the virtue of Engineer Babalola for his philanthropic gestures saying that INSU would continue to embark on activities that will empower youth in Igbomina land.

He said that 14 ICT gadgets; 12 sewing machines, four ovens, two make-up kits, one dryer and one professional welding machine were presented to beneficiaries during last year programme.