Governor Babagama Umara Zulum of Borno state has charged Borno youth under Youths Empowerment, Community Sustainable Waste Management and Environmental Protection Programme to judiciously make proper use of the financial support and training schemes being provided by the state government to become useful to themselves in life.
He also cautioned them to utilise the opportunities to establish small scale enterprises in future to sustain themselves and their families as well as become employers of labour and trainers to others in the society.
Zulum states this Thursday at the El Kanemi Warriors Sport Center, Maiduguri during the handing over the over 3000 youths registered and engaged in six months various skills acquisition and youths empowerment schemes which commenced since last year August.
He said over N515 million has been expended on their training and allowances while N30,000 is being paid to each of the 83,000 youths registered for the programme for the first batch out of the 30000 enlisted youths from LGA and 9000 youths across the state.
He said this year 2020 is a year of rehabillitatiion, reconstruction and empowerment towards improving the living condition of the people, especially, the IDPs and teeming unemployed youths while assuring that his government will continue to encourage the security agencies to tackle security challenges and create opportunities for youths and women to be empowered.
The governor noted that the programme will however end in months and UNDP will take over the programme for the next three months when they will be graduated to be on their own.
Earlier, the state commissioner of sports, Comrade Sauna Buna, said last year during the electioneering campaign that the governor directed him to get a profile date of the youths in the local government and its environs where he registered about 283,000 youths and 118, 000 women which 83,000 were engaged in various skills acquisition and entrepreneurship training on a monthly allowance of N30,000 with over N515 million so far spent .
He said the governor has further directed for the immediate payment of their allowances for the month of January 2020 before their handing over to the UNDP to continue the training.
The commissioner commended the governor for his initiative and support to the youths and women, noting that, without such support and encouragement, their conditions of life may have been otherwise.
He called on the state government to extend the programme to other youths in the LGA and the remaining parts of the state.
