Gov Hope Uzodimma of Imo State will on Saturday, June 26 empower a record 15,000 youths with the sum of N4billion.
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Each of the youths will receive N250,000 as a start-up capital to pursue a trade of their choice.
The youths who are drawn from the 27 local government areas of the state have been trained in various vocations.
The state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon Declan Emelumba disclosed this in a statement in Owerri.
Emelumba said the gesture was in fulfillment of the governor’s promise to alleviate poverty and reduce crime in the state.
He said each of the 15,000 beneficiaries will receive his alert before departing the venue of the ceremony.
According to Emelumba, apart from providing direct employment to the youths, the empowerment will also make them employers of labour.
He said the government’s shared prosperity agenda encapsulated in the 3Rs of rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction has the youths as a critical component in the making of a new Imo State.
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According to him, because of the correlation between unemployment and crime, Uzodimma is determined to take many Imo youths out of the streets.
He said the youths who have received training in fashion designing, barbing, hairdresser, phone and electrical repairs among others would also become trainers of their peers.
He urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the opportunity provided them.
The commissioner assured the beneficiaries of the readiness of the governor to continue to support the youths in their productive endeavors.
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