Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom state has announced a donation of N310 million to youths as a reward towards their peaceful disposition during the end-bad-governance protest which took place last month across the Country.
The N310 million will be shared among the youths in the 31 Local Government Areas with each local government council receiving N10 million.
Governor Eno had made pledge with the youths before the protest which was held across the Country between August 1 and 10, appealing to the youths not to take part in the protest as they would be rewarded if they shunned the protest.
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At a youth engagement rally in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State Capital, the governor lauded the youths for obedience to his appeal to shun the protest, adding that “The leadership of the youths in each of LGA will receive the money and spread it, across party line”, explaining that the gesture was a promise he had to keep in appreciation of youths of the State.
“We can’t leave you the way we met you. We are inspired that you listened to our plea not to join the protest, not because we don’t believe in protest or don’t feel what is going on in the country.
“We know there are always people that will hijack the most peaceful protest to destroy and vent anger on government facilities. Our leaders have worked so hard in pass 37 years of the creation of our state to put these infrastructure in place and one minute of anger can destroy all of these hard works.
“We are not ashamed you did well and we are here to give you a pat on the back. Though you didn’t protest, we heard you loud and clear. We know the issues you’re angry about.
“We know those things that should be addressed. Issues of hunger, of unemployment, pains and high price of food. We try within resources available in our state to address them to the benefit of our people.”
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Governor Eno also approved, “That 100 youths per Local Government Area (LGA) will be added to the Ibom Community Watch across political party lines.
“One thing you must know, our big men when they meat at they club, when they share the money, they don’t know political party. So no discrimination.
“Student bursary raised from N10,000 to N20,000 for undergraduates and N20,000 to N30,000 for those pursuing professionals courses and post graduate students.
“Ministry of Labour working with my Senior Special Assistant on ICT to open an employment portal for all youths in Akwa Ibom. When you register, it will automatically sort your area of specialisation. When we want to recruit even for government, we will just go into the portal to filter the qualifications we want.
“We will engage with oil companies in Akwa Ibom to harvest applicant for interview. We don’t want crowd of people to stand on interview queues and kill selves looking for employment. Let’s have a digital platform where we have your qualifications and call for employment.
“We will on monthly bases support 5000 youths every month with N50,000 business grant from this portal to start small businesses as individuals or groups pulling their resources together to start a farm, because we don’t want you to just stay idle waiting for employment. There is no way you get this money twice.”
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He also announced plans to create a Ministry of Youth Development, specifically to address issues that would enhance youth matters adding that ‘whoever will be appointed commissioner will be under 45 years of age.”
Stakeholders at the youths appreciation gathering urged the governor to push for completion of the former Governor Obong Victor Attah initiated Ibom Science Park as a tool for fast tracking technological growth of the state.
The youth engagement rally was attended by youths, women and chieftains of the various political parties , commissioners and top officials of the state government.
