1,000 youths trained in ICT, garment making

Some 1,000 youths in Abia State have been trained in garment manufacturing and Information and Communication Technology skills by the Industrial Training Fund and the National Industrial Skills Development Programme.

The ITF Director-General, Prof. Longmas Wapmuk, said this on Tuesday in Aba at the graduation ceremony for the participants.

He said the programme had demonstrated a renewed commitment by the Federal Government to empowering youths.

He said  youth empowerment guaranteed speedy attainment of Nigeria’s quest to become one of the 20 most industrialised nations by 2020.

Wapmuk was represented by the Chairman of South-East, South-South Area Managers’ Forum, Mr. Ben Ngwu.

He said the training and other youth empowerment programmes like “You Win’’ and “SURE-P’’ demonstrated government’s commitment to transforming Nigeria’s economy.

He expressed hope that youth unemployment would drastically drop in 2015 from the present 20 million as was reported by the National Bureau of Statistics.

In his remarks, Gov. Theodore Orji of Abia State called for an end to lip service on technical and vocational skills acquisition in the country.

Represented by the Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr Akujuobi Nkoro, the governor said it was wrong for an agrarian economy to pay lip service to technical and vocational skills acquisition.

“The Asian Tigers, Japan, India and others would not have been where they are today if they had failed to place acquisition of skills on the front burner of their national development plans,’’ he said.

He called on stakeholders to join hands to ensure that trained graduates were gainfully-employed or assisted to set up their own businesses through the provision of loan facilities.