YOUTH EMPOWERMENT: SOLUDO LAUNCHES ONE SKILL, TWO SOLUTION PROJECT

REPORTER: UCHE NDEKE

The Anambra State Government says it has appropriated over two billion naira to empower youths of the state in various skills before the end of 2022.

Governor Chukwuma Soludo stated this while inaugurating “One Youth, Two Skills” solution Workshop organized by the state Ministry of Youth Development at the International Conference Center Awka.

The Anambra State One Youth Two Skills Project, which is captured in the Transition Committee report for the Governor Soludo led administration is targeted at raising smart entrepreneurs through apprenticeship, entrepreneurship, business financing and mentoring.

The initiative is also aimed at solving some societal problems, which include, restivenes, armed robbery, kidnapping, violence, touting and all forms of criminalities by keeping the youth positively busy with quality jobs.

Governor Soludo, while encouraging the selected youths to go through the training with the aim of acquiring the skills, gave an assurance that his administration would continue to champion their cause by empowering them.

He noted that the training was part of his government’s decision and target to create one thousand youth millionaires and one hundred and thirty thousand private sector jobs annually.

“The future of Anambra is in your hands. What we have come to do is to begin a process of what we call productive empowerment.

“Productive empowerment in which you teach people how to fish, not giving them fish. We will give you the skills, the training.

“Our agenda is to have One youth at least two skills, that is the future of Anmabra, Nigeria and Africa.

“Every youth should have enablement, this is 21st Century. We have also appropriated over two billion naira for this particular programme and next year, as we go on, we will also be putting out more, as more billions and so on, because there will be special programmes and training for the youth,” the Governor explained.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr. Patrick Aghamba, said the pilot programme would see 5,000 Youths trained in about 20 skills.

These include cathering, ICT, Agro Livestock, Hair dressing, Decoration, Furniture Making, Solar and CCTV installation as well as Bakery.

Mr. Aghamba explained that the trainees would be sent to business owners for a duration ranging from four to seven months to learn the skills and business they applied for.

“The trainees here must count themselves very lucky to be selected from a pool of over 22,000 youths that applied for this programme.

“We have started with a pilot of 5000 target beneficiaries, which will be strategically scaled up in due course, as the goal of our dear hard working, pragmatic and Solution Oriented Mr.Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludu is to create 1000 youth millionaires.

“It is a huge deviation from the normal one week in hall pattern of training, which yielded no fruit over the years,” he said.

In an Interview, the Chairman National Youth Council, Anambra State, Comrade Chukwudi Obiemeka, commended the initiative, which he described as holistic approach towards combating crime, and enjoined the youths to see the project as an opportunity to become great ambassadors of the state.

“I will sincerely appreciate Mr. Governor for his level of commitment to the youth programme and empowerment. And also the Commissioner, for the level of work they have put together.

“The approach, tactics, we are already seeing success because it is very organised,” the Youth Council leader said.

Some of the trainees, Miss Jenifa Maduekwe, Mr. Festus Okaro, and Mr. Chisom Ayogu, while thanking the Anambra State Government for the laudable initiative, expressed the hope that they would surely be empowered to become entrepreneurs at the end of the exercise.

The programme is also a community based, as all the trainees will be trained in their various communities, with stakeholders involved in mornitoring and supervision, which is against the previous pattern of bringing everybody to the state capital to be trained in one or two days.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU