Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Imo Governor, Hope Uzodinma, has described the recent stimulus package by President Muhammadu Buhari as a homegrown policy masterpiece which has shown that there is no alternative to a creative indigenous policy initiative in the development of the country.
He acknowledged that the COVID-19 challenge has brought the best creative imagination in the president.
He called on the National Assembly, political class and economic drivers to support President Buhari’s stimulus package aimed at overcoming the economic challenges posed by the COVID 19.
He said the package has vindicated his position that only a home grown initiative like the one released by the president will steer the country away from a post-COVID-19 recession.
According to him, the package which includes interest rate cuts on all applicable CBN intervention funds and creation of 1,000 jobs in each of the 774 LGAs would assist Nigeria with the post-pandemic era.
He also hailed the one-year moratorium on loan servicing and the N50 billion targeted credit facilities for households, small and medium enterprises as measures that would change the economic face of Nigeria as soon as the crisis was over.
Meanwhile, Governor Uzodinma is set to empower 5,000 youths in the first phase of his short, mid and long term empowerment programme for the unemployed citizens of the state.
Commissioner for Entrepreneurship and Skills Acquisition, Mr Noble Atulegwu disclosed this to Daily Sun yesterday while highlighting reasons of creation of the new ministry.
Atulegwu said Governor Uzodinma in his promise of reducing the unemployment rate in the state has decided to give youths which he said would be picked from the 27 local government area of the state.
He said the government has commenced the collection of data of unemployed graduates to enable it identify those to benefit from the empowerment programme.
Atulegwu said government has started negotiating with some notable organisations and industries for support on the programme adding that those who did not have opportunity to acquire formal education would also benefit through its skills acquisition scheme.
“This time, it’s no longer going to be the usual empowerment adopted by the previous government where they share N1 million to youths which they immediately lavished on rickety taxi cars.
It’s better for us to spend N400,000 training the youths and empowering them with N600,000. We are going to train and empower our beneficiaries. There would be training on rice, tomatoes and onion farming,” Atulegwu said.