Ife’s Ooni, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, said plans were underway to employ 100,000 youth over the next two years.
He said this is part of an effort to address the country’s growing problem of unemployment.
Momarch announced this at the inauguration of the Ojaja More shopping center in Ile-Ife.
Noting that growing youth unemployment is a concern, Ooni called on various stakeholders to step in to stem the scourge.
He added that each of the malls is expected to create 1,000 direct and indirect jobs, and said 100 such malls will be built across the country in the next two years.
“We started from Ile-Ife because charity starts at home.
From here we will be covering the entire South West and Nigeria with a chain of over 100 stands over the next 24 months.
It will be the first of its kind in Nigeria and on the African continent.
“In addition to nurturing young minds and serious youth in a retail store, this initiative will provide over 100,000 direct and indirect jobs for our youth across the country, thereby contributing in no small way to human development and capacity building. That is my goal.
“This is job creation for the Nigerian youth. OjajaMore simply means that people (consumers) pay less and get more.
It is a combination of royalty and retail to create a different purchasing perspective from Ile-Ife The Source.
The business is structured in such a way that personalized shopping is growing the retail business which is severely underdeveloped in Nigeria for reasons including a proliferation of convenience stores and disorganized markets.
“When I saw so many retail outlets on a business visit to Johannesburg some 15 years ago, I realized afterwards that as big as Nigeria was and still is, there are only five (5) big malls without a single one in my hometown of Ile -If that’s sophisticated, classy and affordable.
“Just as we have branded people’s names in companies like this in developed countries, I initiated this project to build our younger generation’s confidence in productive business and investment activities.
Youth are the true engines of economic growth,” said The Ooni.
