HURIWA CONDEMNS F.G.’s LADY CHAUFFEUR TRAINING SCHEME

A development focused civil society group-HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has carpeted the Federal Government’s newly inaugurated lady Chauffeur training scheme (LCTS) for lacking in creativity, innovation and sustainability.

The Rights group therefore canvassed the introduction of specialized technology skills’ acquisition scheme specifically targeted at training younger Nigerian ladies to become middle level technicians in the petroleum and Environmental sectors and other technology related skills that will make them job creators rather than job seekers.

The Federal Government had on Friday May 4^th 2012 inaugurated what it called the lady chauffeur training scheme (LCTS) aimed at creating 200 driving jobs for Nigerian ladies. The Lady Chauffeur Training Scheme (LCTS) is said to be a joint effort of the Federal Ministry of Labour and the non-governmental organization headed by the wife of the President; Mrs. Patience Jonathan.

In a statement to the media, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) through its National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Director of media; Miss Zainab Yusuf said the new ladies’ drivers’ training scheme was bereft of creativity, innovation and therefore is not a sustainable Job creation effort in the twenty first century.

HURIWA tasked the Federal Government to introduce better, modern, technology-inclined job creation schemes for Nigerian women rather than waste scarce public fund to produce mere artisans and commercial drivers which are not the pressing needs of most Nigerian consumers. The Rights group reminded Government that the local content law which prescribes mainstreaming of indigenous technicians and middle level experts in the foreign dominated Nigeria’s crude oil industry is breached by the multi-national crude oil companies operating in Nigeria because of claims by them that local experts are in short supply.    

The Rights group stated thus; “We are worried that at a time that India has successfully launched a long range surface to air nuclear missile anchored by an Indian young lady Miss. Tessy Thomas, and at an era that developing countries like South Africa, Botswana, Bangladesh among others, are investing heavily in the training of their women in the technology and Aviation Industries, Nigeria is still behaving as if we are in the eighteenth century by training female commercial drivers as if that is the most pressing service need of Nigeria and Nigerians”.

HURIWA also carpeted the Federal ministry of Labour for failing to introduce scientific data base on the population of jobless young graduates several years after such proposal was publicized. The group blamed unemployment among younger citizens for the unprecedented crime rate in the country and urge Government to address it pragmatically.

“Nigerian Government and other leading stakeholders in the private sector should concentrate energy and resources towards training young Nigerian ladies to become competent pilots, and scientists who can build the much needed security architecture that Nigeria needs to check the unprecedented rise in terror-related violence. Government should not behave as  if we live in stone age by mass producing commercial drivers whose services are not needed”, HURIWA concluded.

9/5/2012