Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Enugu State Government, in collaboration with The Potters Wheel Foundation (TPWF), Enugu, has begun the training of 3,400 youths on vocational and entrepreneurial skills.
The Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Mr Lloyd Ekweremadu, disclosed this in Enugu on Sunday.
Ekweremadu said the aim of the training was to make the youths self-reliant and employable.
He said that 200 beneficiaries were drawn from each of the 17 local government areas and that the training was the state government’s initiative through his ministry.
According to him, the idea is to expose the youths to various skills that will make them become employable and be employers to support the state’s job creation drive.
He said this would support the state economy, pass skills to young people and help Gov. Peter Mbah reach proposed zero headcount poverty in the state.
“One of the strategies in achieving this is through capacity building and job creation.
“The training has about four component areas, such as bakery, confectioneries, natural drink making and cosmetology.
“It is going on in all the 17 LGAs and it is for young people between 15 and 35.
“At the end of the programme, the committed ones would be supported with start-up kits to commence their own business,” Ekweremadu said.
He said that the ministry would continue to monitor them from time to time to see how they were doing with the businesses.
He said that they were currently working with NAFDAC to have their products certified.
“We are encouraging them to come together as clusters to form cooperative societies because it is easier to access finance that way than doing it on their own.”
The President of TPWF, Godsown Onuzulike, told Ikengaonline that the training was a tripartite initiative of the foundation, State Government and Local Government Councils.
He said the State Government provided the logistics for the training, council’s provided the venue, while TPWF facilitated it.
“The training has started in Enugu East Senatorial District, where we have Enugu North, South, Isiuzo, Nkanu East, West and Enugu East LGAs.
“After this, we will move to Enugu North, where we have Udenu, Uzo-Uwani, Igboetiti, Nsukka, Igboeze North and South LGAs.
“From there, we will move to Enugu West, which comprises Udi, Ezeagu, Oji-River, Aninri, Awgu LGAs.
“The whole programme will be ending on Dec. 14.
“The following week will be the graduation, where successful ones will be empowered by the State Government,” Onuzulike said.
He said that they had four major areas of concentration, such as bakery and confectioneries, like cake, chin-chin, peanut, butter pie, buns, doughnuts and others.
“Under cosmetology, we have soap, powder, detergent, disinfectant, perfume, liquid soap, hair cream and others.
“On natural beverages, we have hibiscus wine (zobo) and soya milk drink.
“We also have the general training, including entrepreneurship guide, marketing, book-keeping, content creation, and using social media platforms to market their products,” Onuzulike said.
