Sometime in December 2019, six months into his tenure as a first timer in the House of Representatives, Idem stunned the entire world when he announced his skill acquisition and capacity building programme for 5000 youths in his federal constituency. A large group of skeptics thought it a mere political hoax.
Around July 2020 I visited Idem in his house in Uyo to evaluate his conviction on the 5000 youth’s empowerment programme after doing financial mathematics. From my calculation, I discovered that if N200,000 was the projected cost of training and settlement of one trainee, that will automatically translate in one billion naira for the training and settlement of 5000 youths.
When I met Mr Idem that day, I found out that his decision was already cast in granite while the mode of execution was already set out and bucketed. He told gleefully that he had tested poverty before and hates to see his people wallowing in grinding poverty when he knows how to pull them out of it.
We spent some time over wine to talk about the Asian tiger’s mentality that changed Japan, China, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. Our discussion also shifted to how to grow the local economy using the Bangladesh model by encouraging start-up and growing of small businesses. I left his house fully convince on the new path he was building for the future prosperity of our young people.
As Idem led me out of the door to my car through the slight drizzle as departed his house, my mind flashed through the past 20 wasted years of poor representation in our federal constituency and I shuddered. From that moment, I realized with inner satisfaction that the honourable member was the wonder weapon sent by God to transform our federal constituency from bottom to top.
Don’t you think so?
Excellent article. I will be experiencing some of these
issues as well..