Executive Chairman of Aniocha North Local Government, Delta State, Hon. Kevin Okwechime has said his administration will continue to partner with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and other organisations in the area of job creation and skills acquisition for the teeming youths of the Local Government Area.
Hon. Okwechime spoke on Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at the flag –off and orientation ceremony for participants of Community based business training scheme (CBBTS) of the special public works department of NDE held at the just completed Aniocha North Local Government Skills Acquisitions Centre and Multiple Purpose Hall, Issele-Uku.
Okwechime commended the NDE for approving the business training scheme for the youths of the local Government area and said the training which he noted will go a long way in impacting skills and create the much needed jobs for the participants was in consonance with his administration’s vision for the youths.
He revealed that the Aniocha North Skills Acquisitions Centre and Multi-Purpose Hall, the venue for the program, was conceived and constructed for the purpose of training youths of the area in skills acquisition and said it was a great delight seeing NDE making use of the structure for the same purpose.
“The collaboration that Aniocha North Local Government has with NDE is a continuous one. What you are witnessing today is a tip of the iceberg; this is the beginning of so many other programs lined up to ensure that our youths are empowered through skills acquisition.
“It is in line with the directives of His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, Governor of our dear State to harness the potential of our youths towards ensuring that they are prepared to take care of themselves.
“When youths are able to take care of themselves, it helps in no small measure in reducing youth restiveness and crime in the society.
“So what we are witnessing today is a long effort towards ensuring that we revamp the capacity of our youths towards self-reliance and dignity,” the council boss said.
He congratulated the participants for being amongst the few selected for the program and said it was a great privilege, even as he encouraged them to take the program seriously, putting their best and using it as a launch pad towards a robust and endearing future for themselves and other members of their families.
In his keynote address, the Director General, National Directorate of Employment NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, represented by the Zonal Director, South South Zone, Mr. Onyeogo Sylvanus, said that the Community Based Business Training Scheme falls within the purview of the Special Public Works (SPW) Department of NDE with special focus on social, structural and physical environmental inequalities through active involvement of community members, organizational Representatives and employers of labour.
He clarified that twenty unemployed persons in selected communities in the 36 States and the FCT are benefitting from the scheme, making it a total of Seven Hundred and Forty participants within the age bracket of 18-35 years residing in the selected communities, saying that the training period is for three months whereby monthly stipends are to be given to each participants for transportation.
Earlier in his welcome address, the State Coordinator, National Directorate of Employment (NDE) Delta State, Mr. Jinanwa Chukwuma, said the NDE, in order to ensure that its mandate is achieved and impact felt in all nooks and crannies of the country, the Special Public Works (SPW) department, over the years, through the instrument of Community Based Business Training Scheme, has injected a large number of artisans in various semi-urban areas across the thirty six states and the FCT.
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“This was realized after exposing them to specialized skills acquisition training in some selected competitive, demand-driven, emerging but marketable skill sets,” he said.
Remarks were also given by the Secretary to the Aniocha North Local Government, SLG, Mr. Kennedy Okoh, Head of Personnel Management of the Council, HPM, Mr Bartrend Ojeh and the President General, PG, Issele-Uku Development Union, Mr. Uge Offordile.
