On Sunday 7th July 2013, Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua received
commendation from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a United
Nations specialised agency, praising his recent initiative targeting job
creation for unemployed graduates and skills development.
Ms.
Sinanzeni Chuma-Mkandawire, the Director of the ILO Country Office for
Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, spoke to the thousands
congregated at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN) in a
message also beamed live to millions more via the church’s broadcast
portal, Emmanuel TV.
“Youth and employment is a huge challenge
that the world is facing today and we commend the efforts of the man of
God Prophet T.B. Joshua, the Synagogue, Church Of All Nations and
Emmanuel TV for championing a worldwide initiative on job creation,”
Chuma-Mkandawire stated. “This challenge needs the
concerted efforts of
governments, the private sector, individuals, institutions and
faith-based organisations.”
Giving a brief history of the ILO’s
aims and activities, Chuma-Mkandawire highlighted that Joshua’s project
was in consonance with their vision on skills development and job
creation, also lauding his known stand of helping individuals,
irrespective of their religious, ethnic or social background.
“My
organisation is based on the respect for all people, all religions and
all faiths. This is where there is a convergence with what is happening
here today and we therefore join the efforts of Prophet T.B. Joshua,
Emmanuel TV and all faith based organisations in the promotion and
creation of jobs.” Chuma-Mkandawire stated that the first step of the
partnership would be to create a website which would provide relevant
information for job seekers, linking them to respective job
opportunities.
The partnership comes in lieu of Joshua’s call
last month on his 50th birthday for job creation to be prioritised in
order to avert an impending economic crisis. The ILO whose motto is
‘promoting jobs, protecting people’ said they had been observing
Joshua’s charitable endeavours for several years and were delighted to
join him in partnership for the mutual benefit of young people seeking
employment.
Joshua stated his passion to provide jobs for young
people was driven by a vision of an imminent ‘revolution’ amidst the
youth if actions were not quickly taken. “Revolution is coming if we do
not act now,” Joshua soberly stated to the congregation. “The young ones
will take to the streets because the so called legacy of education we
give them will not have meaning. Unemployment has made education useless
in the sense that the young ones see no meaning in going to school.”
He
lamented that education had lost its value. “Each time those in
university remember those who made a first class doing what they were
not trained to do, it affects their morale. This has affected the value
of education; graduates are now struggling with the uneducated for
unskilled jobs,” the cleric commented.
A week earlier, Mrs
Hannah Ms Hannah Bertillia Acquah, the West African representative for
the MBA tour, also publicly commended Joshua’s initiative. The
international event organised to link prospective students with top
level business administrative educational institutions officially
announced their partnership with Emmanuel TV in giving scholarships to
enterprising African students, enabling them to study in some of the
most prestigious educational institutions worldwide.
According
to Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper, the project has already attracted huge
national and international interest. “Thousands of organisations around
the world have offered to partner with TB Joshua by providing job
opportunities for Africans through the initiative. Hundreds of such
letters were read at the event, with the organisations stating available
vacancies in their establishment,” the newspaper reported on Sunday
30th June 2013.
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