Abuja – President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan recently launched the 3rd edition of the very popular YouWin program at the State House, Abuja. YouWin – Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria is a Federal Government of Nigeria initiative, involving the Ministries of Finance, Communication Technology, Youth Development, and Women Affairs and Social Development. The programme is designed to create jobs through training and supporting existing and aspiring young entrepreneurs (under the age of 45) who have innovative ideas via a business plan competition.
In his remarks, the President stated that the programme is on track to create the 80,000 to 110,000 jobs that it was created to achieve. Till date, about 27,000 direct jobs have been created. Apart from job creation and the obvious ripple effects that the programme will have on the economy, others include; increase in tax base, reduced unemployment, and rekindled hope in the youth of Nigeria.
Participants testified to the transparency of the process and the due diligence that the staff at the YouWin secretariat exhibited during the selection process. In response to the participants delight in the transparency of the process, President Jonathan repeated his mantra that “there should be no godfatherism in Nigeria; Nigeria is everybody’s godfather”. The president and several government functionaries toured an exhibition of the products of awardees of YouWin1 and YouWin2 that were on display.
Nigerian Youths (at home or in the diaspora) are encouraged to enter the competition by writing a concept note and applying through the YouWin website (see link below). Applications end December 27, 2013
by Dami Odetola in Abuja
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