From Isaac Job, Uyo
Akwa Ibom State Governor Pastor Umo Eno has presented a new charter of empowerment for one hundred thousand (100,000) youths across the 31 Local Government Areas of the state.
Eno during a thank-you rally for youths in the state for not participating in the hunger protest said the empowerment will begin in October 2024.
He directed the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Development and the office of the Senior Special Assistant on ICT to create a database for youth employment, through which names, based on required qualifications, will be harvested for employment both by the State government, investors, and other organizations operating in the State.
Eno explained that 60,000 youths (5,000 monthly) will be selected from the database for a one-off business support scheme of ₦50,000 each within 12 calendar months.
He stated that 10,000 youths will be supported through the ARISE Entrepreneurial Scheme, an empowerment initiative for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) based on needs assessment.
He also announced that 3,000 youths will be employed (100 per LGA, excluding Uyo council area) through the Ibom Community Watch to provide crowd control and complementary intelligence gathering at the grassroots, in addition to the 550 youths already engaged from Uyo LGA.
He disclosed that other aspects of the scheme would include paid training at the DAKKADA Skills Acquisition Center (DASAC) for 1,000 participants across 31 LGAs, with a monthly transport allowance of ₦20,000 per person throughout the training duration.
He mentioned increased bursary for students in public tertiary institutions from ₦10,000 to ₦20,000 for undergraduates and from ₦10,000 to ₦30,000 for professional students (Law, Medicine, Engineering, Agriculture) for 20,000 students in the 2024/2025 academic session.
“Furthermore, there will be an educational grant for 1,000 public tertiary institution students living with disabilities at ₦250,000 for undergraduates and ₦300,000 for professional and postgraduate students.
“While 2,000 youths will benefit from the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Programme (EAP) organized by IBOM-LED with a ₦500,000 grant and ₦250,000 start-up capital, and 3,000 youths will receive support in agribusiness,” he said.