The Federal Government says it has trained and empowered at least 95 youths and women in the South-East under its Skill-Up Programme in the region.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (South East), Mrs Chioma Nweze, disclosed this during the graduation ceremony for the beneficiaries on Sunday in Abakaliki.
Nweze described the programme as a practical demonstration of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the president for the citizens.
According to him, the programme aimed at creating wealth, reducing unemployment and fostering self-reliance among young people.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the beneficiaries were drawn from the 95 Local Government Areas across Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.
They were trained in different vocations, including tailoring and fashion design, alongside entrepreneurship and financial literacy programmes.
Nweze explained that many of them entered the programme without any vocational skills but were now equipped to become entrepreneurs and employers of labour.
“Today, they are leaving with skills, dignity and tools.
“This is what we mean by the Skill-Up South-East Agenda.
“We are not just training people; we are creating wealth and building a generation of self-sufficient young people,” Nweze said.
She further disclosed that each person received brand-new sewing machine and startup funds to enable them to establish their own businesses immediately after training.
She said that the programme was deliberately designed to harness the entrepreneurial endowment of the region and create opportunities for youths to contribute meaningfully to the economy.
Also speaking, the Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, said that the goal of empowerment is to multiply their knowledge, create businesses, generate employment and transfer skills to others.
Umahi said, “To those graduating, don’t take the opportunity for granted, the empowerment is God’s seed in your hands.”
Gov. Francis Nwifuru congratulated the beneficiaries on the successful completion of the programme.
Nwifuru, represented by Dep. Gov. Patrica Obila, commended the Federal Government for the initiative and urged the youths to show professionalism, discipline and integrity to guarantee their growth.
The Wife of the Governor, Uzoamaka, while celebrating the beneficiaries over their achievement, described the programme as “the birth of a new dream”.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mr Onyekachi Amuche from Imo and Blessing Ogbu from Enugu State, commended the Federal Government for the initiative and promised to utilise the knowledge and opportunity to become economically independent.
They appealed to the government to put necessary measures in place to ensure the sustenance of the programme for more people to benefit. (NAN)
