Open letter to Governor Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru, by Delaw Eze Onyebuchi Chukwu

I pray this letter meets you well. I also pray it speaks to you.

First, I thank you for deciding to use the three billion naira (N3bn) from the Federal Government to rescue poor Ebonyi street hawkers. That was a wonderful initiative borne of good intention. Only good leaders put the people first. That was you admitting the worst problem of Ebonyi State and the worst stigma with which we are being described, humiliated, and discriminated against, especially among our own brothers from the South Eastern Nigeria. Thank you also for releasing the first N1bn. Whether that achieved its essence or not is something to be discussed on a good day.

Your Excellency Sir, I am here to suggest an alternative approach to tackling this menace. I pray you find it worthy of use.

As a concerned Ebonyi man who has been in the business of conducting Free Skills Acquisition for unemployed youths of Ebonyi State even before becoming a National Youth Leader, I suggest as follows:

1. Establish a separate/dedicated ministry or agency whose sole responsibility would be strictly Free Skills Acquisition and the provision of start-up funds and equipment for the unemployed, jobless and poor street hawking Ebonyians.

2. Build or dedicate a house or a venue for the aforementioned and mandate unskilled and unemployed Ebonyians to register for the skills of their choice and be trained for free, while assuring them of start up package upon graduation.

3. Constitute a taskforce whose duty will be to mop up Ebonyians from the streets of major cities in Nigeria, especially the South East, South West, South South and the North Central states via the collaborative efforts of their state governments.

4. Build market or business clusters that will have same skills under one roof and rent it out in a subsidised prices to enable these trained Ebonyians to practice the skills they acquired, make a living, be their own bosses and create more jobs for others.

5. There are Ebonyians who have learnt skills but do not have the funds to start up. Some of them have resorted to menial jobs and street hawking. Gather them, take them for refreshing courses before providing them with startup funds.

Your Excellency Sir, these suggestions will go a longer way than the two million naira you had proposed for each hawker because some of these skills can be fully taken care with less than a million naira.

Dear Governor Sir, an Ebonyi baker I once gave fifty thousand naira (N50,000) told me that she will never be broke again. She has continuously multiplied that money up till date. That’s how small the problem of some of Ebonyi youths are.

This remaining billions of naira will go a longer way in solving the chunk of Ebonyi youth’s problems if judiciously used. I, therefore, respectfully seek you to consider my suggestions in this letter and write your name in gold.

Your Excellency Sir, If you save our people from the shame of street hawking, poverty and uneducation, posterity will be extremely kind to you and yours.

This is me a concerned Ebonyian writing you from the place of passion and compassion, appealing to Your Excellency, not to relent on the great work you have started. If the less privileged gets privileged on account of your government, that would be more than enough.
God bless you.
God bless Ebonyi State.

Yours Comr Delaw Eze Onyebuchi Chukwu
National Youth Leader, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
Spokesman, Forum of National Youth Leaders of Political Parties in Nigeria, FNYLPPN.
Founder and DG, Society Well-being Advocates of Nigeria, SWAN.