The National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N- HYPPADEC) has called for the enactment of a law criminalising non wearing of life jackets by boat passengers in the country.
The commission particularly implored the leadership of Houses of Assembly in its catchment areas to immediately commence the processes of enacting the law with a view to reducing death rates from boat mishaps in riverine communities across the country.
Abubakar Yelwa, managing director of HYPPADEC, gave the call in Ilorin, Kwara State during a stakeholders meeting on the agency’s Youth Transformation Programme (YTP).
He said that enactment of the law becomes necessary because of the wanton loss of lives to boat mishaps in some parts of the country, recalling how a riverine community lost 130 persons to a single boat mishap.
Represented by Mahmud Muhammed, the director of Community and Rural Development, the HYPPADEC boss said the agency has trained over 5,000 youths in its YTP scheme.
He disclosed that 800 youths that benefitted from the scheme in Kwara State will soon get starter packs to commence their own businesses and possibly employ others.
He added that the starter packs that would be distributed to the beneficiaries who were trained in 15 vocations which include tailoring and fish farming cost N255,620,973.
He enjoined the beneficiaries not to sell the starter packs but put them to judicious use, saying, “we do this to remove the youths from the streets and thereby ensuring security in the society.
We encouraged them to choose their preferred vocations. About 5000 youths were trained across the member – states of HYPPADEC.”
Earlier, Ajarat Al-Hassan, state coordinator of HYPPADEC, explained: “We have trained 800 youths in every area of skills under the YTP scheme.
“We paid stipend to the beneficiaries during the course of the training. We shall soon provide them with starters packs.”
