By Emma Okonji
Familylifers has launched an online family platform known as familylifers.com, which seeks to address societal ills by engaging youths and families with technology skills that will help them overcome the challenges of COVID-19.
The online platform provides an opportunity for empowerment, employment, acquisition of skills, and advertisement of businesses for SMEs/entrepreneurs, for youth to engage in meaningful ventures that will help to shun activities that could bring a setback to Nigeria and cause havoc on the citizens.
Speaking at the launch of familylifers.com recently, its co-Founder, Mrs. Yomi Adewale, said: “The impact of COVID-19 pandemic is not a small deal on the citizens in any way. It has increased challenges faced by families, especially our youths and young adults who are the future of our nation and tomorrow’s leaders.”
Citing the current unemployment rate of 27.1 per cent, as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in the second quarter of 2020, she said the rate implied an increase in the poverty level in many families, adding that many youths are out of jobs beyond gender, geographical or educational biased reasons. She further explained that the founders were moved by the societal and family challenges to create an online platform to address structural and practical challenges faced by today’s youth and families.
She said the initiative would support the efforts of the government to curb the rate of unemployment among Nigerian youth.
Co-founder, Mr. Bisi Adewale, who was optimistic that the online family platform would address family and youth challenges, said Nigeria battled so many things at the same time from high crime rate to poverty, unemployment, divorce, wife battering, abandonment, violence in marriage, depression, kidnapping, banditry, child sexual abuse, suicides, violence against women, among others.
“Seeing the present state of the nation, we need to pay attention to our young people, and help them grow to full potential and responsible adults who can join in nation-building. Nigeria has one of the largest numbers of young people in the world. We can’t sit down without helping these young ones to become better personalities. In their annual report, the World Bank tracks the percentage of each country’s population within 0 – 14 years of age. Among the countries with a high population of children are Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Uganda,” he said
He further added that a third of all women experience physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives, and that a quarter of all women aged between 15 -24 have already experienced violence by their partners.
“We discovered that one of the best ways to solve the problem of our nation is using the power of science and technology, hence the birth of the platform that will bring a solution to many of our nation’s problems. The platform will take them out of the street and make them use technology for positive things.
“It will also give room for young Nigerians to interact and showcase their skills, products and services free of charge. It is an avenue for unemployed graduates to be linked with employers of labour as they upload their CVs on the platform,” Mr. Adewale further said.
