Ms. Sinanzeni Chuma-Mkandawire, the Director of the ILO Country Office for Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, spoke to the thousands congregated at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) in a message also beamed live to millions more via the church's broadcast portal, Emmanuel TV.
“Youth and employment is a huge challenge that the world is facing today and we commend the efforts of the man of God Prophet T.B. Joshua, the Synagogue, Church Of All Nations and Emmanuel TV for championing a worldwide initiative on job creation,” Chuma-Mkandawire stated. “This challenge needs the concerted efforts of governments, the private sector, individuals, institutions and faith-based organisations.”
Giving a brief history of the ILO's aims and activities, Chuma-Mkandawire highlighted that Joshua's project was in consonance with their vision on skills development and job creation, also lauding his known stand of helping individuals, irrespective of their religious, ethnic or social background.
“My organisation is based on the respect for all people, all religions and all faiths. This is where there is a convergence with what is happening here today and we therefore join the efforts of Prophet T.B. Joshua, Emmanuel TV and all faith based organisations in the promotion and creation of jobs.” Chuma-Mkandawire stated that the first step of the partnership would be to create a website which would provide relevant information for job seekers, linking them to respective job opportunities.
The partnership comes in lieu of Joshua's call last month on his 50th birthday for job creation to be prioritised in order to avert an impending economic crisis. The ILO whose motto is 'promoting jobs, protecting people' said they had been observing Joshua's charitable endeavours for several years and were delighted to join him in partnership for the mutual benefit of young people seeking employment.
Joshua stated his passion to provide jobs for young people was driven by a vision of an imminent 'revolution' amidst the youth if actions were not quickly taken. “Revolution is coming if we do not act now,” Joshua soberly stated to the congregation. “The young ones will take to the streets because the so called legacy of education we give them will not have meaning. Unemployment has made education useless in the sense that the young ones see no meaning in going to school.”
He lamented that education had lost its value. “Each time those in university remember those who made a first class doing what they were not trained to do, it affects their morale. This has affected the value of education; graduates are now struggling with the uneducated for unskilled jobs,” the cleric commented.
A week earlier, Mrs Hannah Ms Hannah Bertillia Acquah, the West African representative for the MBA tour, also publicly commended Joshua's initiative. The international event organised to link prospective students with top level business administrative educational institutions officially announced their partnership with Emmanuel TV in giving scholarships to enterprising African students, enabling them to study in some of the most prestigious educational institutions worldwide.
According to Nigeria's Guardian newspaper, the project has already attracted huge national and international interest. “Thousands of organisations around the world have offered to partner with TB Joshua by providing job opportunities for Africans through the initiative. Hundreds of such letters were read at the event, with the organisations stating available vacancies in their establishment,” the newspaper reported on Sunday 30th June 2013.
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