Gov. Dikko Radda of Katsina State, on Friday, said that his administration had recruited at least 10,000 workers in the state since his assumption of office.
Radda disclosed this during an interactive session with some journalists in Katsina, saying that the number comprised 7,300 teachers.
According to him, his administration is giving the education sector more attention than other sectors due to its importance, hence the need to recruit more teachers.
He further disclosed that his administration was doing everything possible to make youths in the state self-reliant, instead of relying on government jobs.
“We are embarking on the training of youths to engage them in modern farming and we are targeting those with either secondary school certificate, diploma, NCE or graduates.
“Anyone promising to give jobs to all graduates is lying because there’s no job.
“From our inception, we recruited no fewer than 10,000 people.
“And recently, the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University has graduated at least 10,000 with first degree.
“Therefore, we have to provide an enabling environment for them.
“That’s why we inaugurated the disbursement of about N5 billion for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the state,” the governor said.
He also said that the state government had provided N500 million as a matching fund, while the Small Medium Enterprises Devwlopment Agency also gave the same amount to support the people.
He further said that there was also a recent approval of N2 billion by the NEXIM Bank for the farmers to access as loan to export their farm produce.
“Anyone interested in exporting his or her farm produce can get a loan from that fund.
“All these funds are available now, our youths should apply, indicating their interest.
“They will undergo screening to see if they are eligible to access the loans,” Radda said.
He also disclosed that 10 small businesses with growth potentials were selected across each Local Government Areas of the state.
He said that the operators of those small businesses would be supported to see if they could improve their businesses.
“There’s also a revolving loan available.
“If our youths can utilise these opportunities, they can become job givers, instead of job seekers,” the governor said. (NAN
