By Lukman Olabiyi, Lagos
5,000 young Nigerians across the 33 local government areas in Oyo State have benefitted from the empowerment programme initiated by a support group of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Professionals Council in Oyo State.
The National Director-General of the Professionals Council, Seyi Bamgbade, in a statement made available to journalists, said the beneficiaries who participated in a four-day empowerment and tuition-free scholarship programme were mostly women and the youth.
According to him, the programme “ran from Tuesday 25th October to Friday 28th October 2022 wherein they underwent training in areas such as soap making, fish farming, digital marketing, crop farming, poultry and a host of others viable ventures while those who desire to go to higher institutions were given admission letters to run a tuition-free programme at University or Polytechnic to achieve their academic ambitions.”
He explained the initiative which is a brainchild of the Professionals Council, a foremost support group of the APC was held in partnership with the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology, Moor Plantation, Apata, Ibadan.
Bamgbade said the initiative was designed with the cardinal objectives of keying into the federal government’s plans to move millions of Nigerians out of poverty and raise their standards of living.
He said they have continually demonstrated this in several ways through various windows such as N-power, TraderMoni, farm money and other interventions mapped out by the APC-led government for the people.
Bamgbade hinted that the intervention will no doubt reduce the social vices and crimes to the barest minimum if more people are empowered and given access to education through tuition-free scholarships to contribute to the development of the country.
He expressed his appreciation to the management of the Federal College of Animal Health and Production Technology for making it possible for the group to achieve its assignment of training and empowering the unemployed Nigerians, especially the youth.
In his remarks, the Oyo State Coordinator of the Professionals Council, Dr Bamidele Gold, expressed happiness for the smooth running and hitch-free exercise which he said has impacted the beneficiaries that participated during the training sessions.
Gold thanked the national body of the Professionals Council for the empowerment opportunity it gave to unemployed youth in Oyo State which has allowed the participants to gain new skills and secure admissions to higher institutions of learning.