ABUJA – The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr. Stephen Oru, in Abuja on Tuesday reiterated the ministry’s commitment to empower youths in the Niger Delta region.
Oru spoke in an interview with The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), explaining that the training of the youth was a continuous exercise designed to create employment for non-militant young persons.
He said that the ministry had evolved a system, called iTrens, to fully empower youths,
Oru said: “itrems involves five steps, namely Identify, Train and Engage Scheme, Agricultural Youth Empowerment Programme.’’
Others are: “Training of Seafarers in South Africa (International Component), Training in Watch keep and Sea time for former Marine trainees and Peace building activities in six states.’’
The minister said that iTrens would focus on the identification and selection of youth interested in taking a career in the Information communication Technology ( ICT) sector.
He said such youth would be trained in the basic processes of assembling tablet computers and mobile phones.
“On completion of the trainings, the trainees who demonstrate proficiency will be engaged and employed by the company.
“Each trainee will be trained in health and safety in the workplace, manual handling and lift operations, time management and teamwork/team building. [eap_ad_2] “They will also receive training in short introduction to business and entrepreneurship as well as the working and mechanics of computers.
“The trainees will also be exposed to overview of the assembly processes and, for most part of the training, practical demonstrations on how to assemble tablet computers and mobile phones, “he said
Oru said that periodic evaluations would be conducted to assess the value of iTrens on helping the trainees to become effective tablet computer and mobile phone assembly technicians.
According to him, the development of a new understanding of ICT is integral to improvement of the well-being and attitudes of trainees.
The minister said the programme would also contribute to job creation in the region.
“The programme has a potential to create up to one million jobs through the engagement of 500 trainees and the demand of supplies of accessories.
“Packaging of software components will further create business for suppliers and the products would be sold to schools and colleges at subsidised rates.
“This is a shift from the culture of simply training and letting the trainees off with little or no guarantee of engagement.
“ It would also help prevent the uncomfortable scenario of former trainees coming back cap in hand to the ministry seeking help.
“A train and engage policy is, therefore, a more viable option in an era of dwindling training funds, ” he said
Oru said the skill acquisition programmes was designed to identify areas that would improve the economy and propel job creation.
The minister said the ministry was established as an interventionist ministry to respond to persistent challenges of the region.
The challenges include youth restiveness, environmental pollution and other poverty related issues. (NAN) [eap_ad_3]
