Margaret Alexander

An entrepreneur, Mr. John Ajikwe, has urged youths in Benue State to acquire skills so as to live meaningful lives.

Ajikwe, who is into the production of concretes, building materials and construction, expressed concern that most youth in the state are only looking for easy ways to make quick money.

The Managing Director and co-founder of Big Mummy and Big Daddy Int'l Ltd said the vision of his company is to make as many youths as possible to be self-reliant and employers of labour.

"Our vision is also to take youths off the street and get them meaningfully engaged in concrete production and every other thing that I do here," he added. 

Ajikwe, however, said so far, "The youths are unwilling to come learn the business. They feel they have a degree or a master's degree. I have a master's degree, I'm also a chartered account, and this is what I do, I have never used any of the certificates for anything anywhere.

"The youths are not willing because of Yahoo and anything that can give them money easily. They are not ready to learn a skill that they can use to better their lives. That's a major challenge."

Meanwhile, Ajikwe has urged the Benue State Government to partner with the company for its youth empowerment training programme and in acquiring qualitative materials for its projects. 

"We want to do empowerment schemes for the youths, but most of the training slots are given to politicians. This is something the government can do. We are partners with NDE, and we are certified by ITF to train people, we advertise for skill acquisition, and we want people to come learn the trade."

Ajikwe, however, observed that in spite of the massive construction works going on in the state, the government and contractors prefer to bring in their materials from Nasarawa state and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. 

"The government alone is constructing a lot. They are bringing chippings from Abuja and from Nasarawa. These are rocks that are here that can be crushed and used for this purpose. 

"The water resources person talking of constructing the dam to stop the flood needs chippings. If we have construction people who are willing to partner with us, this is an avenue where they can invest and cash out clean. Chippings do not rust easily, and they are needed every day for construction works. 

"For us here, if you have a quarry, it is more like a regional market because the closest place you can get it from the South-East is around Abakeleki, Enugu. The closest you can get up North is around Keffi and around Jalingo and cross the river towards Calabar. 

"If we have a quarry here in Benue state, it will be like a regional market. Transportation cost will take a whole lot from those using the product here in Benue," he added. 

On the issue of building collapse, he said it was due to the use of substandard products. 

"This is caused by the greed of the people and professionals not sticking to standards. 

"Those of us who are maintaining standards and producing standard products should be encouraged instead of patronising quacks that will risk and endanger the lives of people."

He said the government should patronise certified local companies like Big Mummy and Big Daddy Intl Ltd for its buildings and road construction materials to ensure excellence.