Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum has reacted to President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement stating that the N5,000 stipend promised by its administration was no longer feasible.
In his statement after meeting with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, Okorocha stated that there are several many ways to empower the unemployed youths in the society without giving them physical cash. He however added that the promise of the stipend will be delivered one way or the other.
He said: “Well you see to be honest with you, it is a great idea, but there are many ways to give that support, sometimes it could be in cash which has its own challenges. Handling of that is also in itself a wonderful and great idea.
“Take for instance, in Imo State now I have introduced what is called empowerment, they buy motor cycles and give people N5,000 or N 10,000, for me that is not my style. My style is to declare free education, from primary, secondary to university; nobody pays one Naira in Imo state.
“The very poor people who have to ensure a lot of social inconveniences to pay school fees are no longer doing that, what has happened is that he has saved that money to produce further wealth, so if you keep money through that system, it creates more impact than physical cash.
He added that “Physical cash sometimes creates more problems, so it is great idea, we have to do it one way or the other as time comes,”