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As Deltans celebrate the 28th anniversary of the creation of Delta State, the past four years of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration has been described as fruitful with the training and establishment of 4, 274 youths in agricultural and vocational enterprises.
The Chief Job and Wealth Creation Officer, Prof Eric Eboh, made the assertion during a media chat in his office.
Prof Eboh said that the Delta State Government under the leadership of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa in the past four years used the job creation programme to solve one of the socio-economic problems in the state which is youth unemployment.
He pointed out that the Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP), the Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP) and the Graduate Employment Enhancement Programme (GEEP) had not only impacted positively on the lives of the beneficiaries but helped to grow the economy of the state.
READ ALSO: DELTA @ 28: Onwo hails Okowa’s people-oriented programmes
He stated that 4,274 previously unemployed youths had been taken off the streets, trained and established in various agricultural enterprises including aquaculture, poultry, piggery and in vocational enterprises.
He said that YAGEP had transformed the agricultural landscape of Delta State through the establishment of YAGEP farm clusters across the three senatorial districts in the state such as the Egbokodo-Itsekiri Fish Farm Cluster, Ugbokodo-Okpe Fish Farm Cluster, YAGEP Cluster at Amukpe, Anwai, Mbiri and Ibusa , among others.
While adding that Deltans now enjoy relative peace, he stated that the scheme had minimized youth restiveness, stressing that many youths no longer believe in receiving hand-outs.
He explained that this was evident in the report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that the economy of Delta State had grown significantly between 2015 to 2017 from 8% to 13%.
He added that through the Delta State Export Initiative, the state now exports garri to diaspora markets, saying it had created an assured market between farmers and processors with the hope that the project would be sustained.
He however assured interested youths who have not benefitted from the programme of the governor’s commitment to up scaling, sustaining and consolidating the programme, advising youths to continue to improve themselves on their own by acquiring skills that could help them become self-reliant and contribute to the development of the state.
He congratulated Deltans on the 28th anniversary of the creation of the state with a call on all to foster unity, love and hard work, adding that together we could partner with the governor to build a Stronger Delta.
