Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
As part of his promises to reduce the unemployment rate in Imo State, governor Hope Uzodimma at the weekend empowered 2,300 unemployed youths from the State by granting them a N1 million loan each in the second phase of his Share prosperity programme.
The programme powered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Incentive Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) kicked off with 1,300 participants in the first phase accessing the loan while 1,000 of them got theirs in the second phase of the training freely bankrolled by the State government.
The Commissioner for Entrepreneurship and Skills acquisition , Noble Atulegwu who disclosed this during his address to the participant enjoined them to take advantage of the training and become employers of labour.
Atulegwu while advising them to shun acts capable of derailing the objectives of the programme promised that the State government will soon embark on another phase of empowering the youths of the State.
Reminding them of the essence of the training, he said that governor Uzodimma is poised to reducing the unemployment rates in the State through well thought out skills acquisition programmes.
“The essence of this gesture today is not for you to go and marry with the loan or build houses, it’s for you to invest it in what you were trained here for, His Excellency has done well by providing the training for you free, it’s left for you to do things meaningful with the loans provided for you.”Atulegwu advised.
