The rate of crimes and social vices in Nigeria is on the increase each passing day. The heinous crimes being perpetrated in the country range from kidnapping, armed robbery, ritual killing, rape, burglary etc.
Those who indulge in these crimes are majorly the youths.
When the suspects are arrested, they are made to face the wrath of the law which is right. But in most cases, the suspects might not be lucky to have fair trial, as mobs may lynch them before the law enforcement agents arrive at the scene of the crime.
It is surprising to note that among youths who commit various crimes on daily basis are graduates of our universities and polytechnics. They graduated with the hope of securing good jobs to take care of themselves and support their parents, guardians and all who were financially supportive to them while in school.
Years after graduation and without jobs and hope of getting any support to establish own business, frustration sets in and can lead some youths into doing things that they never bargained to do in life. They become the nightmare of the society. Some are smart and intelligent who are so talented in one field or the other. Putting their intellect to work and practice would surely be a big plus in the fight against crimes in our state and Nigeria as whole.
A popular saying goes “An idle mind is the devil’s work shop” This saying has over the years been proved to be true.
When the mind is idle, it could lead to a lot of negative thinking which when applied becomes harmful to others.
It is important to note that the fight against crime in our society may not achieve its desired targets if many youths with great talents and careers keep roaming the streets jobless.
When the mind is not positively busy and the pocket is dry, the hands can move to do horrible things to make ends meet. These are the state of some Nigerian youths who the harsh economic situation of the country has pushed to a breaking point.
At this breaking point some could still endure the pain and stoop to take up minor trading or hawking to avoid being caught committing crimes while some cannot but indulge in crime.
Among the street traders, hawkers, bus drivers, and conductors are graduates who had summoned up courage to do menial jobs to keep mind and soul.
It is high time our leaders and other wealthy individuals in our society started investing in industries that can employ youths and keep them busy and happy.
In Imo State, there are many eateries and hotels and many are still under construction while you can hardly name industries, poultry farms among other outfits that can provide employment for many youths. What is the expectation of a state or country that has more of where money is spent and enjoyed than where it is acquired?
The government and wealthy individuals can build industries, poultry farms, tailoring shops, bakeries and so on to compete with the numerous hotels and eateries across the country.
We live on food, water on daily basis. When the government established poultry farms in rural areas, and industries, even the town will be decongested. You can imagine how many youths who are broke out there on the street and how their minds will be rehabilitated when they are gainfully employed in the established industries. If looked into, crimes will reduce among the youths and in our society.
When MMM was onboard, aside from the harm of loss of money that it brought upon Nigerians, we can deduce from that very development that Nigerians can easily adapt to modern technologies and to anything that can enhance their financial statues.
The participants of the ponze scheme were so committed to the task. They were so engrossed to their smart phones and laptops making sure that they meet up with the stipulated time to pay in money into the bank accounts of beneficiaries in order to get ready to receive theirs in no distant time.
The ponze scheme like many other schemes with different names and packages enveloped Nigerians and eventually milked most Nigerians dry in the end, while others claimed that they made money out of these ponze schemes.
In the past administrations, both at the state and federal levels, we read in the paper or watch live on the television, our leaders making promises to attract foreign investors into our country and states but in the end not even a single factory or industry is built.
I urge the governor of Imo state, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha to among other projects mapped out for execution in his administration to look into the area of empowering youths.
This empowerment should be extended to those in the rural areas. Some of the youths in the rural areas move into the urban areas with hope that life is easy in the city and when their ambition cannot be achieved some of them end up as miscreants and will become terrors to the society as they cannot afford to go back with nothing.
All these and more can be avoided if they have something fetching them money where they are.
The rich may not understand the torture that goes with hunger without hope of quenching it in sight. This is the plight of some youths who are stranded on daily basis on the streets.
Some need just a little helping hand to establish and practice the skill or trade they learnt. While some need someone to aid them to learn a trade.
When these youths have something meaningful that keeps them busy in the state and across the country various crimes will ebb.
By CHUKWUDI SOPURUHI
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