About 6000 youths and women, from 17 L.G.As of Enugu State, last weekend concluded a 3 month Grassroots Initiative Skill Acquisition Programme in the State. The programme, which was sponsored by the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Eugene Odoh, and coordinated by the Enugu Grassroots Development Initiative (EGDI), commenced in March and took the trainers to the 17 councils in the state. The speaker at the closing ceremony that took place at Igboetiti council headquarters, Ogbede, noted that the beneficiaries of the programme were trained in several skills, including bread making, perfume production, scrubbing powder production, liquid soap and other laundry products. They were also trained in the production of insecticides, social farming, paint making and modern farm produce storage methods. He said the beneficiaries would be encouraged to take advantage of the ongoing Enugu State, Bank of Industry (BoI) and Agricultural Loan Scheme to kick-start their businesses. He disclosed that the state had N2 billion yet-to-be accessed at the BoI, Bank of Agriculture and the Central Bank, saying the fund could go a long way in assisting small and medium entrepreneurs (SMEs) in the state. He said the skill acquisition programme was one of the interventionist schemes designed to fill the gap in the nation’s quest to stem the tide of unemployment, encourage manpower development initiative and self-reliance in line with the state’s four-point agenda and in keeping faith with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. “Available statistics revealed that unemployment rate in Nigeria is increasing geometrically and if urgent intervention is not procured to reverse the trend, it may induce social upheavals and increase criminality in the system. “We recognise that skills don’t depend solely upon a person’s fundamental innate capabilities but must be honed and developed through training, practice and experience,” he said. He said the fact that formal education alone could not address the challenging menace of poverty and unemployment inspired the Grassroots Development Initiative to bridge the gap between schooling and working in the state. He commended Governor Sullivan Chime for working tirelessly in pursuit of poverty eradication through infrastructural development such as construction of urban and rural roads, health institutions, electricity and water.
