BEVERLY HILLS, March 15, (THEWILL) – No fewer than 3,000 youths are set to be trained and empowered by the Akwa Ibom State Government in different vocations to ensure gainful employment opportunities in the near future.
Tagged “Ibom 3000 Project,” participants for the programme are drawn from the 31 councils of the state even as they would be trained and empowered to carry on with existing Small and Medium Enterprises or start-ups.
Flagging off the programme at Ibom Hall Grounds, the state’s Governor Udom Emmanuel said the scheme was meant to improve the capacities of youths in diverse vocational, technical, entrepreneurial and managerial skills in oil and gas, agri-business, ICT and SMEs to enable them secure gainful employment.
Represented by his deputy, Mr. Moses Ekpo, the Governor maintained that SMEs remained the backbone of an economy as they generated local capital and high levels of productivity resulting in economic growth, which made the scheme strategic in building capacities of youths in the state.
The Governor said the state would continue to patronize SMEs as key drivers of the economy but would focus on creating and driving viable SMEs in order to improve their contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of Akwa Ibom.
He explained that beneficiaries were identified and selected from across the three senatorial districts of the state and charged them to take advantage of the programme and rise to the height of their area of interest.
In a welcome remark, Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Barrister Ukpong Akpabio, said that the overall goal of the scheme was to train the youth to be self-reliant and relevant in the emerging opportunities in the upcoming Ibom Deep Seaport, the Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone and other industrialisation programmes of the state government.
He said, “Our assembling here is a call to duty and a sober reflection on the persistent demand placed on us by our people to pioneer and supervise events that will signal a new beginning of proper coordination and implementation of the vision of our Governor to drive employment and investment in our society through Ibom 3,000 Project.
“The immediate and long term outcome is to lay a solid foundation for the development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises to compliment the efforts of the state industrialization and it’s potentials for employment generation.”
The Commissioner, who commended the Governor for his foresight and support for the programme, also, thanked investors and partners who had continued to stand behind the scheme.
Ukpong further stated that but for the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial plan was to train 9,000 each year for three years even as the ministry was forced to reduce the number of beneficiaries to 3,000 each year in order to accommodate COVID-19 protocols.
He said the state government would cater for the accommodation and feeding of the trainees during their training while arrangements had been made for camps for the trainees depending on their area of need.
