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By Emmanuel Adeleke
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, shocked many residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, as he was sighted riding a tricycle and stopping to pick a passenger.
Obasanjo rode the tricycle, popularly called ‘Keke’, from the premises of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) through Kuto under bridge, amidst greetings and jubilation by onlookers along the road.
The former president stopped and picked a male passenger during the ride.
Speaking after returning to the (OOPL) premises, Obasanjo said he embarked on riding the Keke to show people that there was nothing bad in riding Keke and using same for commercial purpose.
He enjoined youths to embrace every opportunity with hard work and dedication.
Obasanjo said his action was fuelled by wrongful societal classification of all keke riders as miscreants and the tendency of young people avoiding the virtue of starting small.
The former president said with tricycles and other small scale businesses, youths can be self-employed and ultimately become economically independent.
He noted that when he recently distributed 85 keke to young people across the nation, he received some feedback that made riding keke look like an inappropriate gift, even as some wondered if that was the best for young people.
“There is nothing wrong in young people starting small. The Keke is secure and safe when handled professionally and with discipline.
“In fact, you can plan your business the way you wish and earn income that you can deploy to other investments. And if you are able to get a second one, you can give that to someone else. So, you become self-employed and you have also employed somebody,” he said
Obasanjo stated that he remained committed to the economic empowerment of young people through initiatives that could generate employment.
“The people I employed on the farms, some of them are as educated as PhD. There are veterinary doctors among them, Agric economists and some people that are well-educated. Some of my children that have PhD are still working with me.
“The other time I checked the people that are working with us directly on our various establishments, we have over 5,000 and most of them are youths. I have always had passion for youths because there is no substitute for employment,” Obasanjo said