Abia completes multi-disciplinary skill centre

Abia State has completed a multi-disciplinary skill centre that would train youths following the approval of the state, as the host of the South East Npower Training Centre, Chinenye Nwaogu, the state focal person for social investments, reveals.
Nwaogu, while playing host to executive members of Abia Youths Assembly, on a courtesy call on him in Umuahia, said about 100 members of different youth groups in the state had received N50,000 soft loans, through the government empowerment loans scheme, noting that more would soon receive theirs.
According to Nwaogu, Nkoro Adventist Cooperative Society and others have over 100 members that have received N50,000 government empowerment loans, while others are waiting for bank alerts.
He explained that Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP) was a Federal Government programme targeted at youths in the country, but noted that states must support it before it to become successful.
He said Governor Okezie Ikpeazu was fully committed and was also funding the processes that would ensure that the money must get to people that really need it.
Going further, he said Npower was working in Abia, because Abia government provided logistics to run the programmes, unlike where youths were charged money to have access to these programmes.
According to Nwaogu, Abia has over 50 percent of appointees under the age of 40, and thanked the governor for supporting the youths.
Ebere Davidson, president, Abia Youth Assembly, said they were at the Government House to thank the governor for keying into Federal Government programmes, geared towards empowering the youths and eulogised the state for the logistics and publicity given to the programmes.
According to Davidson, Abia State is the first state to benefit from the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme soft loan in the entire South-East region.
Other speakers at the event emphasised on the need to give more opportunities to youths, and they promised that their various associations would make sure that members selected would repay loans and utilise the money to boost their businesses.
Recall that the Abia State government presented N100 million take-off grant to graduates of the South-East Entrepreneurship Development Centre (SEEDC), a skill acquisition programme initiated by the CBN to enhance the skills of Abia youths for self-reliance.
The initiative, which is a tripartite agreement between the CBN, Abia State Government and International Centre for Development Affairs (ICDA), is strategically designed to train tertiary graduates, secondary school leavers and owners of existing businesses for three months with a view to making them acquire skills and be self-reliant.
Osita Aniemeka, project director of the centre, while receiving the cheque, thanked Governor Ikpeazu, for keying into the programme, which he observed would be of immense benefit to the state.
Through the efforts of the Governor, Abia State is hosting the SEEDC and to sustain it, the State Government provided its counterpart fund.
The State has also set up a team that would monitor the progress of the scheme and to ensure that funds disbursed are well utilised.
Promotion of MSME is one of the priority areas of the present administration in Abia State, because of its huge potential.
Therefore, the State Government’s gesture, buttresses its commitment towards promoting entrepreneurship, which plays a vital role in economic development.
The MSME sector contributes heavily to the manufacturing output of a State. Moreover, it significantly contributes to the generation of employment and accounts for a major share of industrial growth and export.

GODFREY OFURUM, Aba