ONE of the most serious drawbacks to the accelerated socio-economic development of our nation is the non or under-utilisation of the talents, energies and expertise of large numbers of our people, especially the youth.
It is a common yet depressing thing to see large numbers of able-bodied and energetic youth sitting idly for days on end when they could be engaged in productive ventures that could contribute to increasing the stock of the nation’s wealth.
The National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), along with its significant expansion, has, among other objectives, been designed to tap and channel these abundant energies and talents into productive ventures that will help move the fortunes of the nation forward.
It is on record that the NYEP has provided jobs for thousands of the youth and given them the opportunity to contribute their quota to the development of the many communities across the country. Through the various modules, multitudes of the youth have been engaged in rendering services ranging from sanitation through rendering assistance in health delivery to teaching in second-cycle schools across the 10 regions of the country.
As important as this has been in partly addressing the unemployment problem and also helping to mobilise and tap the energies of the youth, the design of the programme to only offer jobs for a two-year period, after which beneficiaries have to rejoin the ranks of the unemployed and mount fresh searches for jobs, limits its effectiveness.
Until recently, there was no exit plan for those who attained the maximum two years’ service with the programme. That, among others, created a situation where such persons who dreaded rejoining the ranks of the unemployed decided to use all manner of tricks and methods to remain in the programme. That obviously created a big jam and prevented millions of youth waiting their turn on the programme to be denied the opportunity.
We are happy to note that through the ingenuity of the current crop of government and state officials, an exit plan has been fashioned out which ensures that beneficiaries who serve out their terms and have demonstrated competencies in a number of areas are moved on to more permanent jobs.
Only this week, 296 such beneficiaries of the programme were mobilised by the Ghana Police Service to support the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the service to help the police control traffic in some urban centres of the country. According to reports, they are to be engaged for two years and, subject to satisfactory performance, be absorbed fully into the Police Service.
We highly commend this initiative and would want to urge the NYEP ‘graduates’ to endeavour to vindicate the name of the programme by being honest, punctual to duty and disciplined at all times. The lure of cheap money on the roads from some reckless and indisciplined drives who take delight in flouting road traffic regulations must be resisted if they are to discharge the functions of their office effectively.
As the Commander of the MTTU, ACP Angwubotoge Awuni, pointed out to the NYEP recruits, the opportunity for their absorption into the service permanently was a function of the discipline, honesty, punctuality and efficiency they exhibited.
Their work and conduct will be their testimonial for more permanent work and this is an opportunity they, in their own interest, should not miss.
We believe that others migrating from the NYEP to other areas of national life will exhibit exemplary conduct so that together they will all work to vindicate the vision for providing this new opportunity for permanent jobs for the youth.
We wish to add that the precarious over-dependence on the state for jobs is not an effective panacea to the serious unemployment problem and our youth, many of whom are very talented, should explore ways of using such talents to create jobs not only for themselves but also for others.
Fortunately, MASLOC and an array of institutions supporting small businesses exist to support such causes and they must be exploited to help us mount a successful onslaught on the nagging unemployment problem.
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