No few than 100,000 youths across the 31 Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom will benefit from a set of new empowerment schemes created by the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno.
Pastor Eno unveiled the audacious plan at a youth appreciation and engagement rally to express his administration’s gratitude to the youths for their non-participation in the recent #Endbadgovernance protest.
At the event held inside the Uyo Township Stadium, the governor also directed the Commissioner of Labour and Manpower Development and the Senior Special Assistant on ICT to create a database for youth employment.
He explained that through the database, names based on required qualifications will be harvested for employment both by the state government, investors, and other organizations operating in the state.
The governor further explained that 60,000 youths (5,000 monthly) will be selected from the database for a one-off business support scheme of ₦ 50,000 each within 12 calendar months.
In addition, Governor Eno, stated that 10,000 youths will be supported through the ARISE Entrepreneurial Scheme, an empowerment initiative for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises ( MSMEs ) based on needs assessment.
Similarly, he announced that 3,000 youths will be employed ( 100 per LGA, excluding Uyo LGA ) through the Ibom Community Watch to provide crowd control and complementary intelligence gathering at the grassroots, in addition to the 550 youths already engaged from Uyo LGA.
According to him, other aspects of the scheme include paid training at the DAKKADA Skills Acquisition Center ( DASAC ) for 1,000 participants across 31 LGAs, with a monthly transport allowance of ₦20,000 per person throughout the training duration.
Increased bursary for students in public tertiary institutions from ₦10,000 to ₦20,000 for undergraduates and from ₦10,000 to ₦30,000 for professional students ( Law, Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture ) for 20,000 students in the 2024/2025 academic session.
"Furthermore, there will be an educational grant for 1,000 public tertiary institution students living with disabilities at ₦250,000 for undergraduates and ₦300,000 for professional and postgraduate students.
"While 2,000 youths will benefit from the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Programme (EAP) organized by IBOM - LED with a ₦500,000 grant and ₦250,000 start-up capital, and 3,000 youths will receive support in agribusiness", he said.
Expressing delight over the recent promotion of the State’s female team, Ibom Angels, from the second division to division one of the Nigeria Women Football League, Governor Eno announced his administration’s donation of ₦20 million and a coaster bus to the team.
He also reaffirmed his plans to unbundle the State Ministry of Youths and Sports Development, maintaining that his administration will create a separate Ministry for Youth Development in the next dispensation of the State Executive Council, to be headed by a Commissioner not older than 45 years.
