Rivers State Government’s drive for increased revenue generation has received a boost with the official opening of the Tamara Centre, a creative mega state-of-the-art edifice that will serve as a multi-purpose business complex.
Fenibo Fubara, special adviser on Information and Communication Technology to Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, said that the Centre was expected to be a beehive of commercial activities and innovative services for both individual and corporate players.
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Speaking while taking guests round for inspection of the facilities, Fenibo Fubara said the Tamara Centre was equipped with 24-hour WiFi connection, constant electricity and an efficient security system.
Speaking with BusinessDay shortly after the inspection, the Rivers governor’s SA on ICT, Fenibo Fubara, said the need for youths of the state to acquire various skills for economic sustenance necessitated the opening of the centre for creative business activities.
“This facility was initially commissioned as a women development and skill acquisition centre. Since this is a multi-purpose hall that includes event halls, work spaces, training facilities, we get to understand that this place is actually a creative space, so we termed the place Tamara, meaning the creative environment.
“The youth of the state need to start plugging into every advantage in this place – the training on catering, the training on ICT, the training on tailoring and fashion designing. They need to start plugging into this place so we start having a pool of self-sustained youths in the state such that restiveness, cult fight or violence will be reduced because there’s a saying that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
“So, by the time the youths are well engaged meaningfully, you find out that it will have a ripple effect in the state. It will impact on the peace in the state; it will impact on the revenue of the state, the enterprise rate of the state,” he said.
Earlier at the opening ceremony, Doris Oyil, SSA to the deputy governor on administration, said skills development was a panacea to unproductivity, youth unemployment and crime.
She added: “It is stating the obvious therefore, to say that since it is human capital that drives all the other factors of the socio-economic development of our state and nation, the building of this facility is a step in the right direction to promote youth empowerment, financial independence for individuals as well as efficiency and productivity in the public and private sectors.”
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Rivers State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Roseline Apawari Uranta, said that the Centre has three halls of 1000, 200 and 150 capacities, which are suitable for meetings, seminars and wedding receptions, at affordable rates.
“We also have an ICT department with recent model computers for computer skills training. We have a catering department, tailoring, hair dressing and other departments,” she explained, adding that the facilities are open for business.
