Okowa urges youths to leverage on govt training programmes to unlock potentials

Delta Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, on Thursday, charged youths in the state to leverage the opportunities provided by the state government to acquire vocational skills that would unlock their potential in life.

Okowa who is the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), gave the charge while flagging off the third cycle of the Rural Youth Skills Acquisition (RYSA) programme at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) permanent orientation camp at Issele-Uku in Aniocha North Local Government Area of the state.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government ( SSG), Chief Patrick Ukah, the governor disclosed that, RYSA like other state government empowerment programmes, had been strategically designed to tackle the problem of youth unemployment in rural communities with a view to checkmating rural-urban drift.

He said the inauguration of RYSA was a testament to his administration’s quest to continue to provide opportunities for youths in the state to explore their potentials so as to enable them become self-employed and wealth creators in a globally competitive business environment.

According to him, RYSA comprises two components which he listed to include the hands-on skills training aimed at upscaling the vocational skill of participants and the community business school which focuses on life skills, mindset change, leadership and business management skills development necessary for participants to become successful entrepreneurs.

While saying that three participants from each of the 270 electoral wards in the state were drawn into the third cycle of RYSA making it a total of 810 participants, Governor Okowa encouraged the participants to emulate their predecessors by taking the training with the utmost sense of seriousness and responsibility.

“Today’s event is a testament to our administration’s quest to continually provide opportunities for youths in the state to be self-employed and wealth creators.

“Like all our empowerment programmes such as Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP); Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP); Women Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Programme (WESAP) and the Girls Entrepreneurship and Skills Training (GEST) Programme, the Rural Youth Skills Acquisition Programme have been strategically planned and designed to tackle the problem of youth unemployment in our rural communities to curb rural-urban drift.

“The focus of RYSA is to concentrate efforts at developing youth entrepreneurs in rural communities who will stimulate the growth and development of businesses in their immediate communities,” the governor said.

He, therefore, commended the management and staff of the Ministry of Youth Development for ensuring that each of the cycles of the RYSA programme was successful.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Youth Development, Comrade Ifeanyi Egwunyenga urged the trainees to be good ambassadors of the training programme by making a difference in words and action to enable them actualize their dreams.

Comrade Egwunyenga said the training would expose the participants to a lot of new ideas that would enable them to contribute their quota to the local economy and the stronger Delta agenda.

“I wish to reiterate the State Government’s willingness to ensure that you get the best from this training Programme and we believe in your potential and trust that, as participants in the programme, your skills will be sharpened and your knowledge of business management greatly improved.

“However, you must also keep to your own end of the bargain by being disciplined throughout the training duration and paying attention to details, which is the only way you can get the best of the training programme.

“It is crucial to emphasize that by studying properly and working hard, you set a good example for other youngsters who might eventually apply for the programme.

“You must, therefore, be determined to be good ambassadors of the programme and truly make a difference in words and action,” Egwuyenga stated.