A mass economic empowerment programme floated as a special intervention scheme to provide opportunities for the young citizens in Kano state has been launched by the Kano state government.
About N130 million has so far been invested into the take off of the programme encoded as ‘Ganduje Mass-Economic Empowerment Programme’ which was inaugurated weekend.
The project which is being implemented by a ‘High Powered Committee on Empowerment (G-MEEP)’ under the State Commissioner for Information and Youths Affairs is enlisting participants from the 44 Local Government Areas of the state.
Flagging off the project at ‘Open Theatre’ section of Kano State Government House, Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje disclosed that over 1,560 unemployed youths are benefiting from the empowerment programme.
According to the governor, the youths have been equipped with necessary entrepreneurship training, and are being provided with equipment in their respective vocational areas that they were trained.
Ganduje explained that primary focus of the empowerment programme is geared at providing support to young businessmen involved in micro ventures, such as: Fashion Design, and Tailoring, Barbing, and Popcorn Processing.
“The programme that we are inaugurating today is one of the cardinal projects that we conceived to make life more meaningful to our young citizens that are finding it difficult to have gainful employment.
“In view of the importance attached to this project, we have put in place a High Powered Committee to drive the process of implementing it, and under this particular initiative a total of 520 drawn from each of the identified vocations are to benefit.
“What this implies is that a total of 1,560 from across of the 44 Local Government Areas of the state will be provided with these items which range from: Sewing Machines, Barbing equipment, and Popcorn machine devices.
“At the moment our administration is also building a Multi –Million Naira Skill Acquisition Centre, on completion the centre would be empowering our youths with skills that will make them functional members of the society ” he stated.
The governor called on the beneficiaries to put the equipment into good use so that they can be self reliance, and desist from selling the equipment as was the practice in the past.
In his address earlier, Mohammed Garba, commissioner in charge of information, who is also the chairman of the High Powered Committee on Empowerment thank the governor for the initiative.
Garba said the item given to the beneficiaries would go a long way in putting them on the path of being useful members of the society, as it puts them in a position to be an active player in the economy.
He revealed that empowerment programme was being implemented in phases, pointing out that currently the scheme was in its second phase, and called for more support for the government.
Garba pointed out that the state government is partnering with all the Local Government Councils in the state in the implementation of the programme.
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