Adebayo Adenrele
The Ekiti State Government, has said that the proposed youth intervention grants to the states to propel human capital development, will help in tackling joblessness, poverty and criminalities among productive population.
advocated for quick release of the federal government’s , saying the policy will
Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief Monisade Afuye, said this on Friday, while making advocacy for quick release of the grants, during the inaugural meeting of the Ekiti State Technical Working Group on Human Capital Development, at her office in Ado Ekiti.
Afuye, in a statement by her Media Aide, Victor Ogunje, said the committee set up by Governor Biodun Oyebanji, is expected to synergise with the federal government’s body to build the capacities of youths to reduce poverty index in the state and country at large.
She clarified that the vision aligns with the Oyebanji’s Human Capital Development policy, with thematic focus on education , health and Nutrition, women empowerment and youth development and job creation .
According to her, “I am sure we are aware that there is a relationship between poverty /unemployment and development of vices and negative behaviour in the society.
“With this proposed intervention of the federal government in the provision of funds to train our youths, many of whom are actually university graduates would be taken off the streets.
“I therefore, urge members of this working group to take this assignment very seriously as it will have direct impacts in the lives of our youths.
“I also charge the secretariat of the Human Capital Development group to be up and doing to ensure that the grants are released to the state promptly”.
Giving the memory lane of the initiative, the Executive Secretary, Ekiti State Bureau of Employment, Labour and Productivity, Bukola Faluyi, said the committee was established in 2018 by the National Economic Council through the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to spearhead youth development via training and retraining to be job creators.
Mrs Faluyi said a whopping sum of $45,000 grant had been promised to be injected into the State through Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) to propel the programme.
She also revealed that at inception, the Deputy Governors of each state of the federation were appointed as the champions of the policy to make it successful.
“We are doing everything humanly possible through the right policies to facilitate the release of the grants to our state as soon possible”.
Present at the meeting were the Special Adviser to the Governor on Investment, Trade and Industry, Omotayo Adeola, represented by her Technical Assistant on Small and Medium Enterprises, Michael Owoseeni, among others.
