By Francesca Hangeior.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has set up the structures to create three million jobs for the Nigerian youth through the Three Million Technical Talent Programme.
According to a statement by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Rabiu Ibrahim obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday, Idris made this known at the Nigeria Police Youth Summit in Abuja on Monday.
At the summit themed “Enhancing the Nigerian Youth Value for National Security Intelligence”, the minister who was represented by the Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, Mallam Jibrin Ndace, said the 3MTT programme, being driven by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Technology, is an incubator for the education and skills desired to enhance the capacity and value of the youths in national security intelligence.
He said, “The 3MTT Programme is an affirmation of President Tinubu’s vision of factoring youth development into the overall national development strategy. To lay a formidable framework towards achieving this, the administration is also prioritizing the economic security of Nigerian youths, towards building a more secure and prosperous country.”
The minister stressed that the enactment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund is one of the President’s notable initiatives aimed at making significant impacts on the educational pursuit of Nigerian youths.
Speaking on the high cost of transportation in the country, Idris observed that the introduction of the Compressed Natural Gas policy by the President, seeks to leverage the nation’s sufficiency in gas, to bring down the cost of transportation by about 70%.
He urged the youths to key into government policies and explore them for personal comfort, economic growth and empowerment.
Speaking further, the Minister stressed the need for youths to imbibe the necessary morals and values to play their expected roles in national security intelligence.
He also warned on the national security implications of spreading fake news, disinformation, and misinformation, emphasizing that the act is a flagrant abuse of the freedom of expression, which the present administration upholds.
“Better still, the renaissance identified with the crucial national security intelligence role for our youths cannot come without the necessary value reorientation. The expected Nigeria’s Values Charter initiated by this administration, spearheaded by the National Orientation Agency, will serve as a blueprint for a national value system, defining us as Nigerians and strengthening our personality and roles as citizens,” he said.
“Where much is given, much is expected. We must acknowledge that disinformation intersects with significant national security threats, including incitement over anarchy and instability, transnational crimes, terrorism, banditry and their financing, violent extremism, and malicious cyber activity,” he stated.