From Our Correspondent
Mr Prosper Okafor, President of Crusade for Greater Nigeria on Poverty Eradication and Social Matters (CFGN), has urged the federal and state governments to invest more in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Okafor said in Abuja, on Monday, that this would improve job creation and ensure poverty alleviation at all levels.
According to him, an SME-driven economy is key to job and food security through sustainable self-employment.
The poverty rate in Nigeria, according to the World Bank, is 46 per cent, representing 104 million poor Nigerians.
The president, who identified microeconomic growth as the roadmap to macroeconomic development, said SMEs remained inevitable to job creation and poverty alleviation.
“SME has the potential to end insecurity. This is because when everyone is engaged, no matter how little, there will be no time for idleness and crime.
“In great economies like China and the U.S., artisans run the economy. At all times, they have something doing, which is a function of SMEs,” he said.
Okafor commended the Federal Government for tackling poverty and unemployment but appealed for priority for SMEs.
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“My Non-Governmental Organisation has facilitated the workshops and training of thousands of youths in different skills just to help them escape poverty and joblessness,” he said.
Okafor explained that only investment in SMEs could take the millions of unemployed youths out of the streets, thereby relieving the government of the burden of employment.
According to him, the country is burdened with youthful bulge which has made many graduates roam the streets without jobs.
He reiterated the need for microeconomic growth through SMEs to rescue the youth from the doldrums of over-dependence.
The president also said he had initiated a programme titled “War Against Poverty (WAP)”, contributing to job creation and poverty alleviation.
“With the support of the federal and state governments, my WAP initiative is capable of taking millions of unemployed people off the streets, hence alleviating hunger and poverty,” he said.
The poverty rate in Nigeria, according to the World Bank, is 46 per cent, representing 104 million poor Nigerians.
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