The Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) on Thursday inaugurated a skill acquisition scheme to train no fewer than 600 youths and women in Kogi.
The training will be done on the platform of the commission’s Youth Transformation Programme, the commission explained.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HYPPADEC, Dr Abubakar Sadiq-Yelwa, announced this while he inaugurated the training programme in Lokoja.
The Youth Transformation Programme is organised by the commission in partnership with New Approach as part of efforts to ensure that youths across the country become self-reliant.
Sadiq-Yelwa explained that the 600 Kogi youths and women were drawn from 10 focal riverine local government areas of the state.
The HYPPADEC boss said that the commission would ensure that “every beneficiary, after the training, is certificated to enable him or her to use the document to access loan facilities to grow his or her trade”.
He assured the trainees of prompt payment of their monthly stipends and financial support after their training to enable them to stand and grow their businesses.
“As a commission, we have also planned a robust programme for farmers in the riverine communities in view of their perennial loss of crops to flooding by providing them with fertilizer and other farm inputs.
“This, in addition to the 1,487 life jackets we distributed to members of the communities in the 10 focal local government areas to reduce the rampant cases of boat mishaps and unwarranted loss of lives.
“Again, in the next two weeks, HYPPADEC will make available motorcycles to traditional rulers of the riverine communities for distribution to vigilante groups operating in their various communities so as to help to reduce crime and criminality at that level,” he said.
Also speaking, Isa Ozi-Salami, member HYPPADEC Governing Council, representing Kogi, said what made the commission to standout “is its knack for transparency and sincerity of purpose that it brought to bear on all its activities”.
Ozi-Salami said “this is why our impact is being felt everywhere, especially in the six HYPPADEC states of the country.”
He noted that supposing the commission was manoeuvering the little resources available to it, it couldn’t have achieved this much in its service to the affected states.
Dr Mahmud Umar, the HYPPADEC Director, Communications and Rural Development, also said that the benefiting youths would be trained in 36 trade areas with a focus on vocational/technical, domestic and agricultural enterprises.
Umar explained that the empowerment programme was to cover 70 per cent of youths, 20 per cent of women, and 10 per cent of physically challenged in society.
According to him, the transformation programme is aimed at reducing the rate of unemployment and “it affects 25, 000 youths in Niger, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Plateau in the 36 different trade areas.
Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi, who commissioned the programme, described it as apt and very thoughtful as it covered the whole ladder of human existence.
Bello, represented by his deputy, Chief Edward Onoja, commended the federal government for giving life to HYPPADEC after 10 years of neglect.
“HYPPADEC became more effective with special recognition under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) led by President Muhammadu Buhari, and today we are witnessing its impact on the Nigerian society.
“I hereby wish to commend the commission for its transparency and accountability as well as redeeming its promises to Kogi citizens.
“As a government, we will continue to offer the desired logistics support to the commission for the success of the programme,” he said.
Earlier, the HYPPADEC state Coordinator, Lee Ahenjir, said that the commission would not relent in its vision and mission to harness the resources of member states for sustainable development that would impact positively on the lives of citizens.
The Ata Igala and President of Kogi State Council of Chiefs, Matthew Oguche-Akpa, lauded the government’s efforts on human development such as empowerment of the youth, women, and the physically challenged.
The royal father drummed the support of royal fathers in Kogi towards uplifting the living condition of the people with an assurance that they would mobilise their subjects to embrace the skills acquisition programmes made available to them.
