Federal Government To Engage 38,700 Youth Mentors For Out-Of-School Children, Others

The Federal Government says it would employ 38,700 educated but unemployed youths as part of a strong army of mentors for out-of-school children and other vulnerable people.

The government said the 38,700 youths would be drawn from the 774 local government areas of the country.

The Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Maryam Uwais, made this known during a joint press conference with the Northern Governors’ Wives Forum in Abuja weekend.

Uwais had earlier briefed the governors’ wives on what the federal government was doing to empower youths and protect those she described as “at-risk population”.

She explained that the engagement of the youths for the mentorship job was part of a strategic work plan by the Office of the Vice President designed to address the needs of vulnerable children and youths.

The presidential adviser said, “We are collaborating with the governor’s wives and other stakeholders to select 50 young educated but unemployed youths in every local government to empower them to mentor the young children and guide those that are out of school to live meaningfully.

“Fifty youths will be selected in each of the 774 local governments. They will be paid N30,000 which is the minimum wage. This will create capacity and jobs for them.”

In her remarks, the Chairperson of the Northern Governors’ Wives Forum, Hadiza El-rufai, who rolled out the forum’s agenda for 2021 and 2022, identified gender-based violence and drug abuse as major menaces the 19 First Ladies in the region would focus on combat.

Also speaking, the vice-chairperson of the forum and first lady of Kwara State, Ambassador Folake AbdulRazaq, said they were collaborating with government institutions and functionaries to ensure the sustainability of their programmes even beyond 2023.