Still on Mpape robbery

I write to condemn the recent attack on First Bank, its branch in Mpape, Abuja, by a group of armed robbers but I equally blame the Federal Capital Territory Administration under the leadership of Alhaji Muhammad Musa Bello, for instituting policies that favour only the rich ones in Abuja and at the same time sending many out of business, making them idle and inflicting hardship on them.

I will not applaud and take side with anyone that chooses robbery or other crimes as his or her means of livelihood because of the lack of jobs and hardship in the country but I must let the authorities know that they are the problems we have.

Unemployment is known to be the major problem in Nigeria after corruption, religious and tribal segregation. Many youth graduated from school but have no jobs to sustain their lives.

Abuja is one of the cities that accommodate larger number of unemployed youth in the country. I have lived in Abuja since 2006 and must confess that the unemployed youth in Abuja are hardworking and ready to do legitimate jobs to earn a living but the FCT Administration and its policies always set against their efforts.

I would not talk about the FCT’s past administrations where houses were demolished, people were rendered homeless, commercial motorcyclists were banned in many places within the FCT, people were killed and more. Though some people applauded these policies the truth remains, it was an act of wickedness and oppression of the poor.

Now, the current FCTA has constituted a task force in the name of keeping Abuja clean. The members of the task force go round Abuja, arrest people with provisions’ shops, lock their shops, arrest people hawking in different places within the FCT, collect their goods and more.

Those doing these businesses are the unemployed youth whom the so-called government and FCT administration have failed to provide jobs for. If you don’t want them to do what is making food available for them, what else do you expect them to do if not seek every possible means of surviving? In some cases, government claims to have provided shops and other places for such people but fail to let us know that the fees for the shops too exorbitant for these unemployed to afford.

Government is not providing jobs for the unemployed youth, the government is not proving an enabling environment for the youth to excel in their areas of interest, government has been making policies aimed at frustrating the youth, the same government says the youth are lazy, this is unfair.

Allow the youth to do whatever is legitimate to enable them survive since you cannot provide jobs for them, but enrich yourselves daily with public funds that should be used to build companies and create jobs for them.

Awunah Pius Terwase

Mpape, Abuja.

08179289948

[email protected]

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