Member of the communications team of the NDC, Abdul Aziz Mohammed
Member of the communications team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mohammed Abdul Aziz, has criticized the purpose of the government initiative of the Nation’s Builders Corps (NABCO) in their attempt to quell youth unemployment in the country, saying the only solution to tackling youth unemployment is by creating an enabling environment for private enterprises to thrive to absorb them.
He said that is why under Presidents John Evans Atta Mills and John Mahama, the NDC increased access to electricity from 50% to 80% and access to water to around 80% in the country to boost local enterprises.
Mr. Aziz also pressed that the NDC administration under former President Mahama saw the need to construct roads across the country to decentralize private enterprises in the country.
When pointed to the electricity crisis of “Dumsor” under the erstwhile Mahama administration, he said that was a legacy problem he inherited from previous administrations like the Rawlings to that of the Kuffour administration which he ended before leaving office.
He said the construction of airports and roads strategically across the country is the sure way of empowering the private sector economy in the country, which will, in turn, absorb the unemployed youth in Ghana.
Mr. Aziz criticized the government’s One-District-One-Factory (1D1F) initiative’s claim of siphoning the unemployed youth across the country, saying the government must do well to provide data for such youth employment in the country.
He charged that it is the duty of every government to provide support for the private sector and when that support is given, it does not mean the government should take over such private enterprise as the NPP-led government is doing across the country with the 1D1F initiative.
Mr. Aziz said this in an interview with Johnnie Hughes on the New Day show on TV3, Tuesday, October 12.
He was speaking on the backdrop of the claims by government spokespersons that the Nation’s Builders Corps (NABCO) initiative has absorbed the majority of the youth into permanent employment across the country since its inception.
“Our perspective is that we believe government cannot deal with the issue of youth unemployment alone. We believe that the private sector needs to be strengthened to be able to absorb most of these young guys coming out of our universities.
That is why we prioritized infrastructure, you see all that you need to do is to create an enabling environment that the private sector will take advantage of to expand and for new businesses to emerge,” he charged on the New Day show.