A Critique of the FCT Minister’s Taxi Driver Empowerment Program
Paul Ibe, the media spokesperson for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has expressed deep concerns about the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister’s decision to allocate vehicles to a group of Abuja youths for commercial driving. According to Ibe, this approach is flawed and amounts to perpetuating a misguided economic system that forces young people to take on jobs they don’t want.
Ibe argues that many of these youths are not pursuing driving jobs out of choice, but are forced to do so due to the economic reality they face. He believes that the environment is stacked against them, leaving them with limited options to make ends meet.
This comes in the wake of a statement by the FCT Minister, who encouraged the program’s beneficiaries not to be ashamed of working as taxi drivers, citing the fact that many Nigerians who reject such jobs at home gladly take them up when they travel abroad. However, Ibe strongly disagrees with this perspective and urges the government to stop denying Nigerians, particularly the youth, the opportunity to live better lives due to flawed policies.
Ibe stresses that it’s not the youths who created the economic situation that hinders their progress. Rather, he believes that it’s the result of flawed government policies that have consistently thwarted their opportunities. “This is a blatant lie,” he says. “Nigerian youths did not create the economic situation that continues to hinder their progress. Megalomaniacs did, and have continued to deny them opportunities through ineffective policies.”
Ibe poses a rhetorical question, asking, “Is this what you want to reduce our youths to: driving taxis? Nigerian youths are better than that. They’ve consistently shown that their limitations are the result of the unfounded policies of the megamaniacs who continue to mortgage their future.”
