4,000 Jobs Abroad: Uzodimma Disables Imo Evil Forces

BEN AHANONU

In the art of government, wisdom, prudence, shrewdness, sagacity, foresight, integrity and clear vision are everything and germane to the attainment of set goals, policies and aspirations especially regarding the overall well-being of the state or country and interestingly, the aforementioned strategic qualities are strands of Uzodimma’s Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), which he continues to deploy methodically in his efforts to reposition Imo State on the irreversible trajectory of enduring economic prosperity.

Recently, the Governor of Imo State Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma while addressing an enthusiastic crowd of Imo youths promised to assist 4, 000 Imo people, who want to relocate to Europe or Canada with the relevant employable skill sets that would ease their entry and adaptation to life there before the end of December, 2023.

That game-changing move for Imo people especially the youths is a clear demonstration of foresightedness and pointer to the fact that everyday Governor Uzodimma is thinking of how to make Imo people happy and prosperous.

The 4,000 jobs are four thousand open doors to opportunity and economic prosperity for Imo State. They pronouncement by Governor Uzodimma is neither mere rhetoric nor lofty grandiloquence. Instead, it is a definitive statement and one thing consistent with Governor Uzodimma is that he is mindful of his pronouncements and does not engage in political doublespeak or prevarication. He talks what he means and starts what he will finish.

The governor, who is focused on improving the welfare of Imo youths has negotiated with some European and Canadian companies that have promised to detail special areas of skills that our youths will also learn.

“Let me tell you something, I have gone further to negotiate with the European Union and Canadian companies. They are sending us areas of visible skills, which our youth will also learn,” Governor Uzodinma said.

Ever since that forward-looking pronouncement, the confused and obviously intimidated opposition parties and their candidates, who are busy with name-calling and rabble-rousing, became so agitated like the senseless baboon in a wildlife park because the visionary Uzodimma has proven again that he is one step ahead of them.

The opposition parties especially the sinking People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the disorganized Labour Party alongside their floundering gubernatorial candidates have been running amok with logically inconsistent permutations and postulations proving that they know next to nothing about the latest trends in global interdependent economy.

The opposition parties and their candidates that are infantile really need some tutoring in how to build a robust economy with global reach.

Worthy of note is the truth that many developmentally conscious countries have actively pursued a policy of labour export as it relieves unemployment, augments the supply of skills and eases pressure on the balance of payments.

In addition, the inflow of overseas workers’ remittances translates into increased investment – the sine qua non for economic development.

India for instance, continues to export skilled manpower to other countries and such remains the core strategy of her skills mission.

According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi: “While India must continue to focus on skilling and up-skilling, mapping of global skill requirements and supplying manpower should be the key strategy.”

He said that India providing smart and skilled manpower solutions to the world should be at the core of her strategy of skilling her youth.

Records indicate that India exports manpower to several countries and regions like the UK, Japan, middle-east Asia among others depending on their manpower requirement through legal and diplomatic collaborations.

While education directs what to do, skill guides in the actual operational implementation and this has been the guiding principle of Skill India Mission.

Canada launched the Federal Skilled Worker Programme (FSWP) in 1967 to select immigrants from all over the world.

As it stands, the FSWP, managed through the Express Entry application management system aims to welcome over 110,000 immigrants by 2024 in Canada, so what is wrong with utilizing the opportunity to send skilled Imo youths to Canada, given the attendant positive economic outcomes?

Equally, the German government has approved a law that will make it easier for skilled workers from outside the European Union to move to Germany.

The new law is expected to come into force in three steps in November 2023, March 2024 and June 2024.

It aims to attract skilled foreign workers and combat labour shortages in the country.

The reforms to the Skilled Immigration Act particularly focus on workers with vocational and non-academic training, which is in sync with the Imo Skill-up Programme.

The plans to modernise the country’s immigration legislation are expected to make it easier for third country nationals to work in Germany. It could also increase the number of non-EU workers in Germany by 60,000 per year, so is it wrong to exploit such opportunity for the skilled but unemployed Imo Youths?

Meantime, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has disclosed that Nigeria will begin exporting skilled labour to Europe and other parts of the world under the Nigerian Youths Skills Empowerment (NYSE) Programme that will facilitate the training of Nigerian youths in relevant industrial skills with pertinent certification.

Clearly, Gov Uzodimma is on the right track with that pronouncement and one thing interesting is that these skilled youths often migrate to other countries on their own. It is therefore difficult to understand why the opposition parties and their candidates are trying to politicize and castigate albeit sheepishly a lofty economic prosperity programme.

The claims of the opposition parties and statistics being dished out are totally false and ridiculous.

The opposition parties and their candidates continue to affirm how unprepared and incompetent they are to grapple with the nitty-gritty of today’s global interdependent economy and move Imo State forward.

Considering the number of Imo youths, (who are largely graduates of the Skill-Up Imo programme) that will pioneer the overseas employment creation policy of the Shared Prosperity Administration vis-a-vis the level of unemployment in the country, the impromptu reaction of the opposition parties and their clueless candidates becomes mere grandstanding.

The unintelligent and rash condemnation of a great policy of the Uzodimma administration to improve the lot of Imo youths by the desperate opposition parties and their pretentious candidates buttresses the fact that they do not mean well for Imo youths and Imo people.

They are only after power and the trappings but less concerned with how to create job opportunities, make Imo people especially the youths prosperous and boost the economy of Imo State in the process.

Let me point out that the opposition parties and their bemused candidates overlooked ( in their unconscionable haste to castigate and rubbish a praiseworthy programme for Imo youths), the fact that the Government of Imo State is collaborating with private companies in Europe and Canada just like the iconic late Dee Sam Mbakwe PhD collaborated with Nebraska State University in establishing the then multi-campus Imo State University.

It must be pointed out that it is only the Federal Government of Nigeria that can negotiate with government of other countries because foreign affairs is in the exclusive list.

I hereby advise the opposition parties and their agents including their losing candidates to concentrate on issue-based campaign and desist from atrocious calumnies that will backfire on them ultimately because Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma remains the people’s choice even as he is committed to fervently delivering more good governance and dividends of democracy in his second term of office to the great people of Imo State.

Indeed, by the grace of Almighty God, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma will definitely triumph over the forces of evil on November 11, 2023.

Vote for APC!
Vote for Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma!

God bless Imo State!

– Hon. Prince Ben AHANONU is Special Adviser (CSDP) to the Governor of Imo State.