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The Federal Government has approved one billion naira for youth empowerment in the country.....
The Federal Government has approved one billion naira for youth empowerment in the country. Under the programme, 200 youths from each local government area the will benefit from the programme while states in the Niger Delta region will have 220 youths from each local government area as beneficiaries in the programme.
Dr Grace Ogwuche, minister of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth Development and Special Duties, who stated this yesterday during a courtesy call at Government House, Port Harcourt, added that the initiative which is part of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, would ensure that youths in the country are empowered with skills relative to their local environment, and commended the Rivers State Government for the effort it is making in ensuring that youths in the state are given a sense of direction.
She was happy about being informed that greater number of youths have been trained by Rivers State Government in various skills including tailoring, hair dressing, barbing, computer and carpentry, while operating machines for these trades have also been procured for them.
The minister disclosed that by the time the 220 youths to be taken from each local government area of the state are added to those the state government was already handling, more youths in the state would have been empowered in appropriate skills.
Ogwuche who said she was in the state to brief the state government of the plans of the Federal Government on Youth Empowerment Programme, said to ensure the successful take-off of the scheme, held meetings with youth commissioners in the federation, local government chairmen and youth leaders from all the local government areas on the various empowerment options, describing the meeting as very rewarding.
She commended the Rivers State Governor, Dr Peter Odili for the steps already taken to engage majority of youths in the state in productive activities, stressing that the Federal Government was happy and proud of his efforts.
Responding, Odili commended the federal government for placing youth development in the front burner of its development agenda.
Odili, who noted that "what the society does with the youths would certainly determine the future direction of the country", pointing out that the youths hold the key to the future.
The governor who commended President Olusegun Obasanjo for demonstrating understanding of the problems of the youths through the appointment of a mother, as the minister of youth affairs, said the time had come for Nigerians to take a critical look at what has gone wrong with the youths in the past, to ensure that the future is made better for them.
He observed that children had lost touch with many aspects of societal values in the pursuit of materialisation, observing that some Parents had failed to look after their children, while teachers had failed to do more than teaching to ensure that morally misguided youths were not produced for the society.
"So to get it right, we have to put what went wrong right", Dr Odili opined, expressing the hope that the initiative was the right way to go. He added that while efforts were being made to keep the youths actively and positively engaged, efforts must also be intensified at re-orientation so that respect for the value system and dignity of labour is appreciated.
He assured the minister that the Rivers State government would continue to do its best for youths in the state, stressing that with the present partnership between the state and federal government, the programmes would be boosted to a level where it could be replicated elsewhere in the country. The governor congratulated the minister on her new appointment, pledging to support of the state government in ensuring the success of her assignment.