NATFORCE: .27m Jobs Awaiting Bill’s Passage – Activist
A human rights activist, Comrade Josiah Chuks Abiandu, has reminded that, about 270,000 youth would be taken out of the street if the Bill for the endorsement of the National Taskforce on the Prohibition of Illegal Importation/Smuggling of Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons (NATFORCE), is passed by the National Assembly.
Abiandu, in a chat with our reporter in Lagos Monday said, against that backdrop, “I, therefore, appealed to our good representatives in the Senate and the House of Representatives, to kindly accelerate actions towards passage of the Bill tabled before them by the leadership of the organization to commence operation promptly.”
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The activist, who is the leader of a pro-workers’ group, Forum for Youth Education and Empowerment, reasoned that, quick passage of the Bill would allow the NATFORCE the golden opportunity to carry out its duo objective of assisting President Muhammadu Buhari to fight insecurity and provide jobs for the youth, warning that, delay in the passage of the Bill would not be in the interest of the good people of the country.
While pointing out that, the causes of youth restiveness and security challenges are largely because of absence of gainful engagement of the youth, observing that, if the youth are taken away from the street and engaged gainfully, the rate of crime would drastically reduce.
The youthful rights advocate therefore begged President Muhammadu Buhari to get the job more engaged to enhance their participation in the war against insecurity, hoping that, “our patriotic members in the National Assembly appreciate the importance of the Bill to the country and treat it with military dispatch.”
Abiandu is of the conviction that, “If the Bill eventually scales through and the outfit commences operation without further delay, it would serve the dual purposes of fighting insecurity and provide jobs for the youth that could be lured into serving as criminal tools because of their idleness.”
The youthful youth leader commended the initiator of the security outfit, Dr Baba Mohammed for taking the steps towards seeking legislative blessing for the outfit by forwarding a Bill to the National Assembly, hoping that the document would also scale the last hurdle having scaled the first and the second readings.
Recall a retired Deputy Controller General (DCG), of the Civil Defence Corps, Alhaji Aminu Kofar Soro, has explained that, only legislative endorsement can avail the NATFORCE the opportunity to operate like a legal security organization to achieve its goals of securing the country and providing jobs for the youth of the idle youth of the country, who are prone to acts of criminality due to idleness.
According to him, the dual goals of assisting President Muhammadu Buhari to fight security challenges and his desire to provide gainful employment for the people of Nigeria could be jeopardised if the organization fails to secure legal approval from the Legislative Houses-the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Soro further stated that, NATFORCE is out to assist President Muhammadu Buhari in his fight against all forms of security challenges and his desire to make jobs available to the teeming youth of Nigeria, asserting that, the benefits accruable to the country from the organization, if given green light to operate, are very significant and indeed enormous.”
