Special Assistant to Governor Udom Emmanuel on Youth Matters, Mr. Aniefiok Iwaudofia, has stated that youths of the state will soon take over the Nigerian industrial sector considering several investments currently made by state government in developing the state’s industrial sector.
Iwaudofia, made this disclosure, in his office yesterday, while speaking on the role of youths in the ongoing industrialization of the state, adding that ongoing training of youths several fields are to equip them with relevant skill set to function efficiently in the sector.
According to him, apart from putting together requisite infrastructure to drive the policy, the state Governor, Udom Emmanuel, has invested heavily in human development, sending hundreds of youths in various batches to received training in key industries, including Power, ICT, Agro-allied, manufacturing and others.
“For the first time state government joined skills acquisition programme to religious pilgrimage. Those people that went to Israel have returned and government is putting necessary tools in place to aid them train others since it was a train-the-trainer programme, I am aware the Ministry of Agriculture is working out modalities for the training of other youths that could not travel to Israel . So, that programmes has been very successful and unprecedented.
“Currently, 200 youths from the state are undergoing one year training in the power sector, specifically in areas such as power generation, distribution, meter reading and others. When that batch returns, we will sent another batch of 200 for training. On the whole, the Governor is pursuing a vision that in future the Nigerian power sector will be more lucrative than even the telecommunications sector of today.
“Power is central to development, its boom will even be more than the oil industry and so the Governor wants Akwa Ibom youths to prepare ahead and grow to become major players in the industry”, he enthused.
On the Oracle training for over 1000 youths, which formed part of the governor’s flag off projects, the youth leader said it is still on course as there is a professional examination, which trainees will have to in order to certify them, paving way for their subsequent deployment to critical sectors of the nation’s economy.
“Oracle certification takes a long process, after the training they have to take a professional examination unfortunately there is only one place in Lagos and another tiny platform in Port Harcourt that does not take more than five people per time. Before now, only these two places were licensed to set that examination with thousands competing to sit for it thus it must be scheduled before hand. So, it becomes tedious to write this examination”.
However, he quickly hinted that in the governor’s usual proactive nature, he has brokered a deal with facilitators of this examination through the Ministry of Science and Technology which will put smiles on the faces of those young trainees and put an end to the suffering of all youths seeking to take international professional examinations henceforth.
He noted that since the advent of this administration, youths have been at the center stage and they have been sensitized to shun the old ways of depending on droppings from political office holders, urged to embrace the DAKKADA creed and rise to the faith of greatness, investing their individual and collective strength and time in productive ventures.
“Through several programmes like the monthly Akwa Ibom Youth Prays, to commit the presence of God to guide youths, Akwa Ibom Entrepreneurship and Employment Scheme (AKEES) which intends to reinvent the spirit of entrepreneurship and self reliance among our youth, government is empowering youths to attend great heights”.
Mr. Iwaudofia therefore called on Akwa Ibom youths to continue giving Governor Udom Emmanuel massive support to deliver his youth friendly prgrammes and delver all his campaign promises for sustainable development of the state. He also solicited cooperation with his office to enable him articulated their needs to the Governor, urging them to shun social vices and violent crime that could cut short their lives or rob them of opportunity to participate in the envisaged greatness.
AKWA IBOM YOUTH WILL RULE NIGERIA INDUSTRIAL SECTOR – IWAUDOFIA
