Gov. Muhammadu Jubril-Bindow of Adamawa on Tuesday said that youths in the state would be made self relaint through skill acquisition.
He said that this would enhance wealth creation and poverty alleviation among the youths.
Bindo, who was represented by his deputy, Mr Martin Babale, stated this in Yola at the graduation of 179 Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) trainees on Technology Skilled Acquisition Scheme sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The governor commended the UNDP for initiating the scheme for the youths displaced by the Boko Haram insurgence in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States
He said that the scheme would go a long way in alleviating poverty and providing jobs for the youths and make them become employers of labour as well.
“A total of 179 IDPs have been trained by UNDP in various scheme in order to make them self-reliant.
“It is the ultimate desire of this administration to ensure particularly the youths who have suffered displacement and loss of livelihood acquire a skills that will make them self-employed and employers of labour too.
“All these will in turn provide the much needed manpower to propel agriculture and industrial development of the state they came from,” he said.
According to him the commitment to enterpreneural drive is very crucial to generate self employment in Adamawa State and the entire region.
He said that group of persons who are millionaires in other parts of the world are self-made and did not inherit wealth.
“Developing your creativity and controlling your business is an assurance of controlling your destiny in life. This saves you from being at the mercy of your employers.
“To achieve this goal the state government established the wealth creation and poverty alleviation agency,” he said.
The governor thanked the UNDP and the manager of poverty alleviation and wealth creation coordination office for the achievement.
He assured maximum cooperations to other organizations that would collaborate with the state governments in alleviating poverty in the region.
He enjoined the trainees to put into good use what they have learnt in the course programme.
“I want to challenge the trainees to make meaningful impact on their communities through what they have learnt from the scheme,” Bindo said.
Gov. Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State, who was represented by the state Director of Youth, Mr Suleiman Bakura, expressed the desire of the state to rehabilitate all those affected by the Boko Haram insurgence in the state.
He said that the state was putting in place measures to make sure that youths become self-employed and employers of labour.
Gaidam said that the state was committed to collaborate work with other development partners to eradicate poverty in the northeast region.
He called on other governors in the region to join hands and partner with UN and make use of the a
opportunities given to them.
Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno, who was represented Mr Nuhu Clark of the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Ministry, said that the state government would ensure that all the youths in the state are engaged.
He said that the government had created the Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement to address the challenges created by the insurgence in the state
The UNDP Country Director, Mr Samuel Bwalya, said that the IDPs trainees represented a lot of hopes for their communities.
Bwalya said that all graduates under the programme would be supported with start-up equipment grants to enable them establish their own businesses.
He encouraged them to consider partnering with each other to form business clusters and conduct their businesses together.