How youths can become self-reliant

The traditional and social media recently reported a story of a group of students from the Bayero University, doing something unique to promote self-reliance. The students of the university realised that acquiring western education alone was not enough and so they thought of a way to be innovative. They looked around their immediate environment and decided that they could make a living out of  sugarcane waste. These students identified it and began a process of converting the sugarcane waste into charcoal.

And in an attempt to encourage this unique initiative, a UK-based Hult Prize shortlisted the idea as one of the automatic beneficiaries of its $1 million dollar funding. When fully on stream, the project is capable of creating up to 10, 000 jobs.

Thousands of waste dumps abound in the North and they can be turned into wealth if fully exploited. I urge unemployed youths in the North to tap into this idea. They should seize any legitimate opportunity and create wealth for themselves.

Musa Ilalah wrote from Abuja and can be reached at: [email protected]