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The Minister of the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, has sought the partnership of the British High Commission in the areas of security, agriculture and job creation for the Nigerian youth.
The Minister made the request when he received a delegation of the Commission, led by the British High Commissioner, Richard Montgomery, on a courtesy visit to his office on Tuesday.
Wike, who thanked the Commissioner for the visit, stated that his administration was “making progress on security”, adding that his priorities were in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Minister said the creation of jobs, and partnerships in agriculture were germane for the FCT Administration noting that without agriculture was important for taking the youth off the streets.
He also said that the administration had turned the city into a construction site, noting the various infrastructural developments going on in the nation’s capital while highlighting that the activities had continued to create jobs for the youth while inviting the British High Commissioner to partner on jobs creation.
“We also realized that before now it does appear that no activities in Abuja, many people complain that Abuja is down but as we came on board activities have come on board. We are proud to say that we have turned Abuja into a construction site, which was not the case in the last past 8 years. When we say priority, like I said here, the creation of jobs is key. If you are unable to create jobs, of course, you know what that means for the teeming youth. We believe that the creation of jobs is not only where it is white-collar jobs, by these activities going on, so many of the youths are involved. So, the creation of jobs is a key priority for this administration.
Two, we believe that Abuja is a tourist area, and so should be seen as one of the tourist areas. We are willing to cooperate, where investors will come to invest in terms of tourism. Agric is also very key. We have very good arable land for the purposes of agriculture, and we are also willing to partner. Agriculture creates a lot of jobs, and we have to remove the youth from the street, so we believe that partnering with people for the creation of agriculture, will also create jobs, so that in fact for us, is a major priority”, he said.
In his remarks, the British High Commissioner, Richard Montgomery, said he agreed with the priority focus agendas of the FCT Minister, adding that the Commission had a programme to support the agriculture value chain.
“I absolutely agree with you about the job focus and the agriculture focus. And I am pleased to say that we actually have a program on agriculture, trying to improve the value chain, so that farmers can sell their produce to people that can process and pack, and therefore trade more easily, and that is something which we hope is getting off the ground now, to help the agriculture sector”.
He expressed hope for the envisioned Abuja Industrial Park, which he said would create more jobs while stating his appreciation for the security agencies in preventing kidnapping in the territory and noted that the Commission was ready to help in any way possible.