By Godwin Kingsley, Lafia Nasarawa state government in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has trained 1000 youths in the state on various vocational skills.
Governor Tanko Al-Makura made this known while speaking on Monday at the graduation ceremony of the trainees in Wamba local government.
According to him, his administration was poised to curbing restiveness through a robust youth empowerment programme.
He noted that vocational skills acquisition programme was key to the nation’s transformation agenda as it would engender a technology based driven economy and fast track diversification from oil.
Al-Makura said the 1000 youths trained in furniture making, welding and fabrications as well as electrical installation were drawn from the vocational centres in Lafia, Nasarawa, Doma and Wamba local government areas.
He said the trainees underwent three months intensive training across the four centres.
The governor also disclosed that the state government has procured equipments worth N10 million to be distributed to the trainees to enable them set up their businesses.
He said the state government would also assist the trainees to secure soft loans from banks and urged them to form cooperative societies.
According to Al-Makura, government is set to commence another phase of training for 1,470 youths as sanitary inspectors, traffic officers and security watchers with effect from January 2014.
He explained that most of the trainees would be deployed to tackle the sanitation challenges and traffic gridlock at the Karu axis of the state.
He added that the security watcher would assist in policing their various communities in view of security challenges bedeviling the state.
Al-Makura therefore admonished the youth to eschew all forms social vices and embrace the vocational training in order to become self- reliant.
He however, called on all stakeholders, especially the Bank of Industry to assist the trainees with necessary credit facilities.
Also speaking, Prof. Longmas Wapmuk, Director General of the ITF said the training of the 1000 youths in Nasarawa state was the third phase of training in the country by the ITF under the National Industrial
Skills Development Programme (NISDP).
Wapmuk said over 37,000 youths have so far been empowered with employable skills across the country since inception of the programme in December 2012.
