FROM: LarryBravo Nwaiwu, Enugu

The Enugu State Government on Thursday unveiled the Enugu Youth Upscale project as part of the state youth development roadmap, aimed at creating platforms for reducing youth unemployment and developing the capacity of young men and women in the state.

The State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Barr. Lloyd Ekweremadu made this known during a media chat with stakeholders and members of civil societyv organisations in Enugu on Thursday.

He observed that the unveiling became necessary following the increase in youth restiveness and unemployment rate in the country, which has increased anti-social behaviour particularly among young Nigerians.

“The idea is to provide projects to the youths of Enugu that will see to their upskilling and upscaling. And also bring their skill sets up to par with their counterparts in other climes which will enable our youths compete favourably and become employed whether in Enugu or outside Enugu.

“This project is for young people between the ages of 18 and 35, and it is open for partnership with the civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, private businesses, international development institutions, among other notable stakeholders. We will partner with them to ensure that the objective of the ministry is achieved,” the Commissioner stressed.

On sustainability of the programme, Ekweremadu said sustainability is very important, explaining that the programme is digitised and structured in a way that will outlive them.

According to the Commissioner, “data of the youths would be collected across the 17 local government areas of the state and interested people should apply. The data collection is decentralised because we are digitising everything.

“Youths can go online at our website, https://eyouthupscale.org” and register whatever programme that they’re interested in. The data collection process is going to be open to everyone. Everyone can take advantage of it. It is going to have a state-wide spread to capture all the comparative advantages in the various local governments.”

Also speaking, the youth ministry’s youth development consultant and lead coordinator of the Enugu Youth Upscale Project, Mr. Emmanuel Etukudo highlighted the pillars of the programme, which include data collection, collaboration, training, knowledge transfer, and policy reform.

In his words, “the Minstry will embark on data collection across the 17 local government areas of the state, including people living with disabilities. We will group them according to their gender, areas of interest, and demography.

“We will train them and ensure they are equipped and rightly empowered to enable them establish with whatever skill they have learnt which will help to curb youth unemployment and also anti-social behaviours among our youths.”