The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde says Nigerian youths desirous of seeking greener pastures abroad cannot be stopped.
He said that the youths were leaving the nation because of harsh economic conditions, noting that they would come back if the “right things are done”.
The Oyo governor added that travelling would broaden the horizon of the youths, as they would come back with better insight and knowledge.
Makinde spoke in a recent interview with BBC Yoruba.
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Asked to advise the youths leaving the nation in droves, he said, “Actually, the youths of Oyo State are the bedrock of our activities on empowerment.
“We are training 10,000 of them on farming technologies. Once they are done with the training we are organising for them at CSS Integrated Farms, Gora, Nasarawa, they will come back and we will empower them to launch out as entrepreneurs.
“So, I think we have, so far, been able to make the youths in Oyo State begin to have interest in the potential in the state and Nigeria as a whole.
“Meanwhile, you cannot discourage some of them from seeking greener pasture, but I can tell you that most of them will come back if the right things are being done here.
“They will come back better because they would have gained a lot of things – talk of insight and knowledge. But I have the belief that with the programme we are doing for the youths in our state, they are well on their way to contributing their own quota to the development of the state.”
Meanwhile, Makinde declined to state if he would be running for re-election as governor or vying for the presidency, as has been insinuated in some quarters, in 2023.
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