Niger State to Empower 1000 Youths Through Skills Acquisition

The Niger State Government on Friday said it would empower 1000 youths in 2018 through its vocational training programmes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme focuses on training youths in various skills.

Graduates are to be given employment or some financial support to start their businesses.

 

The Commissioner for Youth Affairs, Alhaji Samaila Ibrahim, disclosed this while defending his ministry’s budget before the State House of Assembly.

“We intend to carry out the skills vocational training of 1000 youths at the Abdulsalam Youth Centre.

“We will do it on a quarterly basis, with 250 youths per quarter and this will gulp about N200 million,” he said

According to him, 25 youths will be sponsored to the International Aviation College in Ilorin for training, while another 25 will be trained at the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria.

 

Ibrahim also said that N1 billion had been earmarked in the 2018 budget for the completion of the NYSC permanent orientation camp.

“Completing the permanent orientation camp has become necessary due to the fact that the temporary site is a school.

“Each time there is an orientation, the school and its students get displaced and you know there are three orientation exercises in a year.

“We have earmarked N1 billion for the completion of the construction of the phase one,” he said.

 

The commissioner urged the lawmakers to support the ministry’s programmes and initiatives by approving its budgetary proposals.

Alhaji Isah Mohammed, the Chairman, House Committee on Youths, called for more synergy between the committee and the ministry, especially on measures to engage youths in productive ventures.

Mohammed cautioned against extra budgetary spending without recourse to the House of Assembly. (NAN)