A security expert, Felix Ogbaudu, has advised governments at all levels to provide job opportunities for youths as part of solutions to security challenges and other crimes in the country.

Ogbaudu, a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police, made the call during an interview in Abuja on Saturday.

The retired police officer spoke after receiving an award of excellence from the planning and organising committee, Africa Infrastructure, Climate Change and Investment Summit (AICIS) 2024.

The summit is billed to hold between May 28 and 29 in Washington DC, United States.

He said the right environment should be created so that young people would be gainfully engaged and think less of crimes.

“There’s so much anger, there’s so much hunger, there’s so much frustration in the land. There is so much joblessness to the extent that a lot of our youths engage in many crimes. The government needs to address the issues confronting Nigeria. It should provide employment; tackle insecurity and erratic power supply. People have jobs to do and there is no power supply to execute such jobs round the clock. We have a lot of welding workshops and other infrastructure companies but there is no electricity for them to work,’’ he said.

Mr Ogbaudu also called for stiffer sanctions against criminals to serve as a deterrent to potential law breakers.

According to him, it is unfortunate that criminal activities are on the rise in the country, adding that some of the crimes are caused by leadership failure, particularly corrupt politicians.

He said, “A lot of people want to make it within a short period of time, they want to make it overnight.”

He urged the Nigerians to contribute their quota towards addressing climate change, adding that it was affecting the country in many ways.

Mr Ogbaudu said that climate change affected the country’s agriculture sector and businesses.

He called on the private sector to support the government and contribute their quota to the economic development of the country.

The retired police officer also urged the government to support the private sector by providing the conducive environment to enable businesses to thrive.

(NAN)