Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has hired 10,000 youths as part of the efforts bto tackle youth unemployment in the state.
He has inducted the youths into the Imole Youth Corps, as he stressed his administration’s commitment to job creation and youth empowerment in the state.
Adeleke, who spoke at the induction ceremony at Freedom Park, Osogbo, described the initiative as a key milestone in his government’s broader strategy to address youth unemployment.
He said that beyond direct recruitment, his administration has been implementing various policies to engage young people across different sectors.
Addressing the new corps members, the Governor emphasized that the program is a transitional initiative aimed at “equipping youth from diverse backgrounds with valuable work experience.”
His words: “Today’s event is another step in our mission to provide job opportunities for our teeming youth. We are engaging 10,000 young people across the 332 political wards in Osun to provide essential services in health, security, environment, and education.”
He assured that Imole Youth Corps members would receive proper training to effectively support grassroots economic activities and sectoral services.
The Governor urged the corps members to demonstrate dedication and responsibility in their assigned roles, emphasizing the importance of hard work and commitment.
“I charge you to be diligent and committed wherever you are posted. You must justify the trust placed in you by serving with excellence,” he said.
On his administration’s broader efforts to tackle unemployment, he outlined several initiatives designed to create a more sustainable job market in the state.”
“Our administration recognizes the widespread joblessness among young people. Our first step has been to create an enabling environment for both government and private-sector job creation.”
The Governor highlighted key initiatives that have driven employment growth, including:
Financial Support for Small Businesses – Providing funding through cooperatives to support grassroots entrepreneurs. So far, over ₦4 billion has been committed to a revolving loan scheme.
Statewide Infrastructure Upgrades – Creating jobs through ongoing infrastructure development projects.
Youth Agropreneur Program – Recently launched to train and empower young farmers across the state.
Local Content Policy – Prioritizing local contractors and suppliers in state projects, ensuring that Osun’s economy benefits directly Through these initiatives—our local content policy, business financing, and youth agropreneur program—We have created over 250,000 job opportunities for our people in the past two years.
This number will continue to grow as we expand our agropreneur program across all 30 local governments and the Area Council,” Governor stated.
“To ensure the success of the Imole Youth Corps, the Governor directed the Commissioner for Youth Development, Moshood Olagunju, to enforce a strict performance evaluation system for corps members.
“This program will be subject to regular assessment to ensure its objectives are met,” he assured.
In his address, Commissioner Olagunju congratulated the corps members and urged them to be good ambassadors of the program.”
Governor Adeleke has consistently shown his commitment to youth empowerment. This initiative is another testament to his dedication,” the Commissioner noted.
Some of the newly recruited Imole youth programme who spoke to our correpondent in a separate interviews applied the governor for taking them off the streets.
They said some of them have been jobless for years after acquiring degrees from various universities, polytechnic and colleges of Education but have remain unemployed before succour came to their way through the initiatives.
“We thank the Government for this initiative. It will go a long way of alleviating the suffering of many thousands of youths roaming about the street .We commend the Governor assuring him our collective support for second term .”
