By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Speaker of Enugu State House of Assembly, Chief Edward Ubosi, has appealed to youths to shun cultism, violence and other vices in order to lead a purposeful life.

Ubosi made the call at the weekend in Enugu while speaking at the sixth edition of the Employability and Entrepreneurship Summit 2021 (EES-21), with the theme, “Think Global”.

The summit, organised by the Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Advocacy (LEAD) Network in Africa, is being attended by over 1,000 youths from the South-East.

Ubosi said the youths must get focussed and shun negative and myopic life-style of criminality such as cultism and violence.

“Such a life-style is never beneficial to anybody,” he stressed.

“How can you go and kill a fellow youth created in the image and likeness of God under the guise of being a cultist.

“Such a wasteful life-style does not amount to any gain but rather, every cultist that has killed another will surely pay for this type of evil.

“You are here doing cultism, causing violence but purposeful youths are already thinking global and seizing global opportunities to reposition themselves for a great future,” Ubosi said.

The speaker also admonished youths in the state to live purposeful lives by engaging in meaningful activities to sharpen and position themselves for future opportunities.

“We are looking at youths that will be ready to take over leadership through strength of character, hard work and discipline,” he added.

The Executive Director of LEAD Network, Mr Chukwuma Okenwa, said that the summit was meant to motivate young minds by people who have achieved a lot in various fields of life.

“Statistics have shown that about three out of every five graduates in our country are unemployable.

“That does not mean that they cannot read, write or speak good grammar, but simply do not possess the requisite skills, competence and qualities that will make them resourceful should they be employed.

“Employability is not all about scaling through a job interview, but having the capacity to add value to an organisation, if employed.

“Thus, our focus at the summit is not to prepare young Nigerians for successful job interviews, but for the job itself,” he said.

A participant, Miss Grace Okike, said that the summit had exposed her to opportunities in farming and what she could achieve with the empty plots of land in her neighbourhood.

“I will be mentored by Mr Ekene Uzodinma, the farmer, to see how I can cultivate plots of cassava and yam within my neighbourhood,” Okike said.

The summit was used to launch the book “Think Global” written by the Executive Director of LEAD Network, Mr Chukwuma Okenwa by Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State.

It also featured the launch of “Queen Okenwa Foundation” meant to promote the course of philanthropy in Enugu State.

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