Popular comedian,
Alleluya Akporobome, a.k.a, Ali Baba, has urged Nigerian youths to
acquire skills that will enable them to be financially independent.
The
comedian, who spoke with Punch on the sideline of a graduation ceremony
held at Gazzelle Academy in Lagos, described skills acquisition as an
important factor in the development of any country’s economy, which many
Nigerian youths had, unfortunately, ignored.
He said,
“Mental laziness is the biggest challenge facing our youths. A lot of
people said President Muhammadu Buhari was wrong when he said that
Nigerian youths were lazy. But there are young people who don’t want to
do any work in this country. They have no respect for anyone who is
employed. These people even treat labourers with disdain and laugh at
commercial drivers.”
While commending Gazzelle Academy for
training the youth on makeup and fashion, he stated that the makeup and
beauty industry was not for women’s faces alone, as it could be used for
many other things.
“Skills acquisition is the growth of SME,
which is the bedrock of any economy. What Gazzelle is doing is
commendable and they deserve all the accolades. It was even hard for
some of the graduands to attend the ceremony because they had been
booked.
“I advise youths to pick up skills. Models and actors
now depend heavily on makeup artists and fashion designers. With makeup
artistry, Tara Fela-Durotoye is very successful and she has trained a
lot of people too.”
From punch