The Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau said it has qualified 96 trainees in the recently concluded Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) it held, to receive starter packs.
The selected trainees include the 62 trained in Solar and Electrical Installation, 21 trained in Welding and Fabrication. Also included were the 13 young people trained in Fashion Design/Tailoring, and audio-visuals who couldn’t attend the Entrepreneurship and Business Management Training recently organized for their set.
Those in Solar and Electrical Installation and those in Welding and Fabrication were elated that they were declared successful after their eight-months programme, considering that theirs took a longer period than those in other enterprises.
At the one-day EBMT organized for the 93 graduands, on Tuesday, Onyeisi Nkenchor, coordinator (STEP) who represented Eric Eboh, a professor and chief job creation officer of the bureau, announced that their training which ran in phases has ended and that the next step would be to give them their starter packs.
Read also: More STEP beneficiaries get starter packs in Delta
In an interview with BusinessDay, Tombri Perekeme, from Patani Local Government Area of the state and STEP beneficiary in Electrical and Solar Installation, said, “I thank God that the training has ended today.
The 32 years old said that the training period of eight months wasn’t easy considering that he needed funds to support himself and his family as he used to before enrolling in the programme.
Perekeme, a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder, said that since after graduation from the higher institution, he had merely survived a living by doing menial jobs as well as helping his uncle do some barbering jobs
“But I am excited today that now, I have a future following the skills training and business training given to me by the Delta State Government. Once I receive my starter pack, I’ll rent a shop and begin to run my own Solar and Electrical installation enterprise. This is a new era in my life and family, the era of joblessness is over!”, he declared.
While thanking Governor Okowa for ensuring that each trainee received an N12,000 monthly stipend during the period of the training, he appealed that more efforts be made to provide skills training centers in the riverine areas to make things easier for the future trainees.
Also, Amakeme Gabriel (Bomadi LGA), STEP beneficiary in Solar and Electrical Installation Enterprise, also thanked God for the successful end of the programme even as he commended his trainer for not hoarding information from them.
Amakeme said his joy stemmed from the fact that they were going to receive their starter packs in two days’ time after the EBMT that had just been held on Tuesday, January 11.
He also suggested that the state government work towards providing skills centres in the riverine communities so as to attract more riverine dwellers into the programme.
Chime Blessing, (Fashion Design and Tailoring) and graduate of International Studies and Diplomacy, Uniben, was among those who couldn’t attend the EBMT organized for STEP graduands in Fashion Design and Tailoring recently but made it with the current set of graduands.
“I thank God that delivering my baby did not rob me of this EBMT. I thank God that today I am qualified to receive a starter pack like my mates. I testify that Okowa is working!”
