Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has said youths in the country need to be pacified because they are hungry and angry.
The monarch said to pacify them, the youths should be empowered.
A statement by the spokesperson for Ooni’s palace, Moses Olafare, on Saturday, said Oba Ogunwusi spoke during the second graduation of students of the Ojaja II Fashion Training Institute, which was part of the commemoration of his fifth coronation anniversary.
Ooni said, “The youths are angry because they are hungry and the way to get them out of this anger is to continue to empower them. In line with the celebration of my fifth year on the throne, I’ve mapped out plans to empower 5,000 youths to be financially independent and to feed others.
“I hereby call on Nigerian leaders either in politics, traditional or religious to know that it is now a necessity to empower the youth. Out of our earnings, let us dedicate part to the empowerment of youths in our areas. We must consider this a necessity and what should be done on a regular basis.
“We have just had a sample of youth restiveness and it should be a lesson to all of us that nobody can handle their anger, so it is about time we knew that it is stupidity to keep monies in the bank, while the needy continue to wallow in poverty.”
On the debate that constitutional roles be assigned to traditional rulers, Oba Ogunwusi argued that such would hasten Nigeria’s journey to prosperity, as traditional rulers remained the closest to the people.
“We were with the President two weeks ago and the issue was discussed. We’re making progress. We have roles to play. We are not competing with them and I believe that we shall get there,” Ooni concluded.
At the event, 65 youths who successfully completed their trainings as fashion designers were empowered with equipment procured by the Ooni, with support from the International Breweries, Ilesa and other partners.
In her speech, the Corporate Affairs Manager, International Breweries, Ilesa, Mrs Stella Sawyer, described the programme as laudable, commending the Ooni for the initiative.
PUNCH