By Chukwuemeka Opara
Abakaliki – The Ebonyi Government said it had empowered 520 indigenes of the state residence in Lagos State.
Mr Uchenna Orji, Ebonyi State Commissioner for Economic Empowerment and Job Creation disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday.
Orji said that the empowerment which included indigents and hawkers, was not only restricted to Lagos.
He said that the beneficiaries were empowered under the ‘street to skills’ programme as it would make them shun trades such as hawking and become self employed.
“They have been trained in vocational and entrepreneur areas and empowered to commence various vocations to be self sustaining.
“We have also procured 130 tricycles for indigents who hawk and engage in other forms of menial trades in Onitsha and other parts of Anambra, to be self sustaining,” he said.
The commissioner said that over N750 million has been released by the government under its youth and women empowerment programme, aimed at enhancing their economic wellbeing.
According to him, “three thousand beneficiaries have benefited from this programme which has contributed in solving the problems of poverty and unemployment in the state.
“We have also entered into series of collaborative packages with the private sector to ensure that our people adequately benefit from their job creation and self-sustenance programmes,” he said.
Orji said that the state government has created a data base for unemployed people including members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in the state.
“We are targeting about 700, 000 unemployed people to be captured in the data base as we do not discriminate among indigenes and non-indigenes.
“We would use the names captured under the data base to fill slots in various employment programmes of the state and Federal governments, including the private sector,” he said.
Orji remarked that the government in conjunction with the Bank of Industry has earmarked four billion naira to be accessed by citizens for various self empowerment ventures.
“We have also earmarked two billion naira as soft loans to be accessed by civil servants, to supplement their salaries and sustain them economically. (NAN)