Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi yesterday threatened to dismiss any member of the Youth Empowerment Scheme of Oyo State (YES-O) found wanting,just as he disclosed that N3.6 billion is being committed annually to scheme.

The governor while addressing the 20,000 cadets at an interactive session in Ibadan expressed displeasure at the conduct of some YES-O officials,saying that his office had been inundated with the report of harassment and

extortion of members of the public by the cadets.

While warning the cadets against thuggery,harassment and extortion, he said that anyone found would be fished out and shown the way out of the scheme which had been widely applauded as a veritable means of empowering unemployed youths in the state.

Ajimobi said that he was aware of the clandestine acts by the opposition in infiltrating the scheme with a view to making use of some officials to be dealing with innocent members of the public so as to discredit the scheme.``I have received several reports of how some of you have been beating people and carting away their traders’ wares. Let me emphasize here that YES-O was not set up to be waging war on members of the public. We will not condone thuggery, harassment and extortion,’’ he said.

The governor also frowned at situations where the cadets absent themselves from work without any cogent reason, only to collect their stipends at the end of every month, saying this was unfair.

As part of the re-evaluation and revalidation exercise, he said that all the cadets would be made to undergo interviews in their respective local government councils upon submission and verification of their credentials.

He also said that government would begin vocational training for the youths next month in order to make them self-reliant and be useful to themselves and the society.

The governor, who said that the meeting would henceforth be organized quarterly, urged them to propagate the politics of development which his administration signposts, and shun acts that could discredit the scheme.

Ajimobi said that though the scheme was a temporary palliative as the cadets were expected to be ultimately self-reliant                                                                                   through the various trainings given to them, he, however, stated that

fictitious names of cadets built within the system was principally responsible for the delay in the payment of their stipends.

Speaking, Miss Iyabo Adebisi of the Ministry of Environment, on behalf of the other cadets thanked the governor for the session and his efforts at rescuing the teeming youth of the state from unemployment.