Governor Chukwuma Soludo has reassured that his administration will champion massive youth empowerment, job and wealth creation to accelerate economic growth and development in the state, ANAMBRA PEOPLE reports.
Governor Soludo stated this while flagging off an intensive empowerment program tagged “One Youth, Two Skills” at the Anambra International Convention Center, Awka.
The programme, which was organized by the Anambra State Ministry of Youth Development attracted over five thousand youths in Anambra, members of the state’s executive council among others, and was aimed at proffering solutions to youth restiveness and crimes by ensuring that youths acquire skills and are positively engaged.
While flagging off the programme, Professor Soludo said that his administration will help in building youths for the future.
He said that the program is a process for productive empowerment, noting that his agenda is to have one youth that has at least two skills and can become employers of labour.
Professor Soludo while commending the organizers of the event, noted that two billion naira has been mapped out for special programmes for youths of Anambra State and assured the participants that when successfully trained, they would be assisted with funds to enable them start off businesses.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr Patrick Agha Mba, said that the essence of the workshop with the theme; “Raising Smart Entrepreneurs for a Prosperous Anambra State”, was to prepare the minds of the selected trainees for the journey ahead, noting that twenty-two thousand youths applied for the programme which would begin with five thousand target beneficiaries that will be strategically scaled up in due course.
On their parts, some of the guest speakers including the Commissioner for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Mr Tony-Collins Nwabunwanne, the Chairman of Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Anambra Chapter, Mr Chinemerem Oguegbe and Reverend Gospel Ogbonna, among others, expressed confidence that if Anambra youths can key into skill acquisition programmes, crime and unemployment will be reduced as many youths will be engaged meaningfully.
Some of the master class trainers including Messrs Emmanuel Aniukwu and Amaka Okwudili, promised to impact the right knowledge on the trainees even as they urged them to put in their best to the program.