About 3,000 youths in Akwa Ibom State are set to begin vocational, business and skills training in a scheme designed to identify, train, mentor, empower and build the capacity of existing medium and small enterprises (SMEs) and startups.
Speaking at the flag-off of the scheme on Tuesday in Uyo, Governor Udom Emmanuel said beneficiaries of the “Ibom 3,000 Project’’ were drawn from the 31 local government areas of the state.
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The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Moses Ekpo, said the scheme would improve the capacity of youths in diverse skills in oil and gas, agribusiness, information and communications technology and SMEs, to enable them secure gainful employment.
The Commissioner for Trade and Investment in the state, Ukpong Akpabio, a lawyer, said, “The immediate and long-term outcome is to lay a solid foundation for the development of small and medium scale enterprises to compliment the efforts of the state industrialisation and its potentials for employment generation.”
He said the initial plan to train 9,000 persons each year for three years was thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the ministry was forced to reduce the number of beneficiaries to 3,000 each year to accommodate the COVID-19 protocols.
