FG releases statement over report on scraping GEJ’s You Win programme

- Kemi Adeosun said the Buhari administration is reviewing the YouWin programme

- She said the programme will not be scrapped

- The minister said the fall in oil price caused recession

Kemi Adeosun who is the minister of finance has revealed that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has no plan to scrap the Youth With Innovation Entrepreneurship program (You Win) in spite of the massive fraud that was uncovered.

There has been report that the programme which was set up by the administration of Goodluck Jonathan would be cancelled due to corruption but the minister revealed that this was not the plan.

Adeosun in a Facebook live session on Wednesday, April 5 the programme was going through a review which would enable the government “incorporate the initiative into university curricula across Nigeria.”

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The Punch had reports that some senior civil servants gave out slots worth between N7m and N10m each to their spouses, children and friends and that some of the awardees would not have qualified if not for the connection.

In spite of this, the minister said the programme will still be sustained but more transparent.

“The Buhari administration has no plans to scrap it (YouWin).The Federal Government has reviewed the scheme and repositioned it as YouWiN!Connect, which focuses on continuous enterprise education and skills building.

“As part of the restructuring, YouWiN!Connect now publishes weekly editorials in four national newspapers. The principles of YouWiN!Connect would be incorporated into university curricula across Nigeria.”

She also spoke about the issue of diversification and that the government is working hard so that a dip in oil price would not affect the economy.

“The good news is that we are working through the issues one by one, and trying to ensure that as we rebuild the economy, we get away from the boom and bust cycle of the past — we want to build an economy where, whether oil price is high or low, there’s sustainable growth for Nigeria and for Nigerians.”

Adeosun said the Buhari administration is working in the area of infrastructure so as to create an enabling environment to support business.

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On the issue of recession, she explained that this was caused by the country’s overdependence on oil.

“We got into recession because, for the last ten years, even when the oil price was extremely high, and we were borrowing, our reserves were decreasing. We didn’t have enough of a productive economy.

“The only real thing that was happening and creating growth was the oil price, and as soon as the oil price went down, growth disappeared. What we are trying to do now is to reset the economy, so that we are not so dependent on oil.”