Rehabilitating street urchins in Bauchi State

Dan’Azumi’s social status has dramatically changed, courtesy of a skills’ acquisition programme introduced by the Bauchi State Government to keep street urchins off the streets and make them productive and self-reliant. “I am grateful to Almighty Allah and the government of Malam Isa Yuguda for making me to realise that there is dignity in labour […]

Dan’Azumi’s social status has dramatically changed, courtesy of a skills’ acquisition programme introduced by the Bauchi State Government to keep street urchins off the streets and make them productive and self-reliant.

“I am grateful to Almighty Allah and the government of Malam Isa Yuguda for making me to realise that there is dignity in labour and that the principle of no-work-no-pay is quite logical,’’ he says.

The repentant miscreant says that he now appreciates the fact that it is more dignifying to be productive than to be dependent on the labour of others.

“When I joined the programme, I had neither skills nor money but now, I have a vocation, which fetches me at least N20,000 every week,’’ Dan’Azumi says.

He advises other unemployed youths roaming the streets to partake in the skills’ acquisition programme, to enable them to exploit the potential of their latent talents.

Another beneficiary of the programme, 25-year-old Jamailu Hussaini, commends the state government for its feats in rehabilitating despondent youths in the last three years.

“In my wildest dreams, I never thought I could ever handle jobs worth a million naira or more but now, I am handling bigger jobs, even from outside the state, courtesy of the training I received from the government.

“My appreciation goes to Gov. Isa Yuguda for creating opportunities for youths to acquire skills that are worthwhile,’’ says Hussaini, who is a trained photographer.

Malam Ahmed Bala, a 27-year-old repentant member of the “Sara-Suka’’, who also received training in photography, sums up his feelings rather succinctly.

“Three years back, I had no job and no future but glory be to God, I now have a job and even a wife.

“Now, I know what it means to be responsible,’’ says Bala, who is now working as a sanitary officer.

Available statistics reveal that illiteracy and poverty are rampant in Buachi State with a population of 4.6 million people.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistics also indicate that 75 per cent of the people live with less than one dollar (about N150) a day.

Besides, a survey, commissioned by the state government in 2007, indicates that more than 60 per cent of unemployed youths in the state engage in drug abuse.

This, perhaps, explains the rationale behind the decision of the Yuguda administration to create a specialised agency to oversee the rehabilitation, training and empowerment of unemployed youths in the state.

The Bauchi State Agency for Youth and Women Rehabilitation and Development (BAYWARD) was set up in July 2007 and the agency has now been transformed into a Commission via a law passed by the state Assembly.

Three years down the line, the state government, through the agency, says it has so far registered over 500,000 unskilled youths in need of urgent rehabilitation.

“One of the major challenges confronting Nigeria today is what to do with the large army of unemployed people and, sometimes, the restive youths.

“For Bauchi State, in particular, the challenge at the onset of the current state administration in 2007 was the threat to security by the `Sara-Suka’ gangs that terrorized the people, especially in the urban centres,’’ says Prof. Musa Maisamari, BAYWARD’s Director-General.

Maisamari says that the state government, in appreciation of the enormity of the problem associated with youth restiveness, decided to initiate a master plan for youth rehabilitation through the agency.

He says that BAYWARD is saddled with the responsibility of taking the restive youths off the streets and getting them engaged productively through various empowerment programmes.

The BAYWARD boss says that such schemes include facilitating their placement into tertiary educational institutions and skills acquisition programmes to make them employable and employers of labour.

“Three years into this journey, we are proud to say that we have delivered the dividends of democracy to youths and women in Bauchi State through our multi-faceted programmes, while igniting the spirit of entrepreneurship in them.

“Many who passed through BAYWARD programmes are now successful small entrepreneurs, who will forever remain grateful to this administration for giving them hope and a future,’’ Maisamari says.

Recounting the feats so far achieved, in a broadcast to mark his three years in office,  Yuguda lauded the youths for embracing the government’s skills acquisition programme aimed at stimulating self-reliance and crime reduction.

“Before we assumed office, our state was faced with a myriad of problems such as insecurity caused by youths’ restiveness, which manifested in the activities of `Sara-Suka’ and unemployment.

“Other problems were dilapidated institutional infrastructure and facilities, low morale and declining productivity among the civil servants due to poor remuneration and conditions of service.

“This dangerous situation has now practically changed and the fear that pervaded the state has been wiped out,’’ he says.

The governor said that peace now reigned in the state, adding that the people were now able to carry out their legitimate businesses safely and freely.

“It was in recognition of the peaceful nature of the state that the World Bank adjudged Bauchi State as the most investment and business-friendly state in Nigeria,’’ he says.

To add value to the huge investment in the youths and women empowerment programme, Yuguda said that a loan of over N475 million would be sourced to boost the programme’s activities.

He explained that the money would be used by the state government to provide resettlement packages for graduates of its skills acquisition programme.

The governor said that the government had so far trained 9,000 unemployed youths under its Corporate Bodies/Master Trainer Partnership in more than 37 vocations.

He added that more than 50 hitherto unskilled youths had been sent for advanced welding and fabrication training at the Nigerian Naval College in Sapele, Delta.

To further encourage the youths to become self-reliant, Yuguda said that his government had procured and distributed 2,000 mobile phones to some unemployed youths, as part of efforts to reduce poverty among the m.

He said that each of the beneficiaries was also given a pre-loaded credit worth N8,000,  in addition to N2,000 worth of phone recharge cards for sale.

“‘This is apart from the chairs, tables and umbrellas provided for the beneficiaries.

“More than 5,000 unemployed youths have been identified for a special training in modern waste-disposal and waste-recycling activities.

“Another set of 1,900 unemployed youths have been trained and engaged as sanitary workers in all the state’s 20 local government areas.

“An additional 2,000 others, between the ages of 25 and 30, have been trained and employed as security guards in government ministries, departments and agencies,’’ he said.

The governor noted that some despondent  youths had also been encouraged  to further their education

According to the governor, “Some 2,200 school dropouts were registered under the remedial programme in the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 academic sessions with over 90 per cent success.

“Efforts were also made to secure admission for more than 6,017 qualified indigenes of the state into various tertiary institutions across the country,’’ he added.

The Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Suleiman Adamu, lauds the administration for creating a special agency mainly to cater for the welfare of the hapless youths and other unemployed persons.

“The creation of BAYWARD has gone a long way to sanitising our cities; not just by keeping them clean but by also creating an environment for the youths to prosper.

“We salute the state government,’’ Adamu says.

Alhaji Aminu Saleh, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), also shares similar sentiments.

He lauds the government for the feats it recorded in tackling the menace of youth restiveness.

“I have always been an advocate of youth empowerment through education, skills acquisition and agro-allied programmes.

“This administration has not only shown the will but the way forward by articulating robust programmes that have empowered the youths as employees and employers of labour,’’ says Saleh.

Malam Adamu Toro, a veteran journalist, agrees with Saleh’s viewpoints and says that the success of the state government in the area of youths’ rehabilitation has aptly demonstrated that “there is dignity in labour’’.

“What is paramount is to sustain the continuous education of the youths so that we can rid our towns and cities of the large army of unemployable youths, street urchins, `almajiris’ and street beggars,’’ Toro says. (NANFeatures)