President says job creation remains the highest priority of change agenda

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that job creation will remain one of the topmost priorities of his administration’s economic agenda.

The President said this at the 2nd Convocation of the Kaduna State University in Kaduna.

Buhari pledged that his administration would give the fullest possible support to all efforts to create more jobs through the reorientation of Nigerian youths towards an entrepreneurial mindset.

According to him, his administration will ensure that youths in the country are gainfully employed and youth restiveness curtailed.

"One of the focal points of this administration is job creation. Job creation will help in the achievement of other objectives of the government such as poverty reduction and security which are some of the challenges this administration is confronted with.

"Insecurity cannot be divorced from unemployment and poverty because an idle mind, they say, is the devil’s workshop.

"With declining internally generated revenue and over dependence on the equally declining oil revenues, there is need to seek other ways of diversifying the economy so as to boost revenue.

"One of the ways we can achieve this is through the reorientation of our youths towards an entrepreneurial mindset.

"We must therefore promote and enhance the teaching and learning of entrepreneurial skills in all schools and tertiary institutions, thereby exposing our youths to the basics and rudiments of starting and sustaining their own businesses,’’ he said.

The President said that to encourage and assist Nigerian youths to move from being job seekers to job creators, his administration would sustain and improve ongoing job creation programmes of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said that the programmes included the provision of start-up loans at concessionary rates by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, the Bank of Industry, the Bank of Agriculture and other Federal agencies.

President Buhari urged the Nigerian private sector to also do more to support government’s efforts to boost youth entrepreneurship and the development of micro, small and medium scale enterprises in the country.

He thanked the university for conferring an honourary doctorate degree of letters on him.