With N3.2b, Uzodinma walks his Talk in Youth Empowerment

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, last week in Owerri, flagged off the empowerment of youths with a disbursement of N250,000 each to 15, 000 youths drawn from the 27 local government councils of the state. The money is to serve as a seed capital for the youths to pursue any business or trade of their choice.

In all a total of N4 billion will be disbursed in the empowerment programmes that development experts described as novel in the history of youth  and women empowerment in the South Eastern state.

Uzodinma, while flagging off the empowerment programme which was held at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, stated that the “empowerment exercise was undertaken to meaningfully engage the youths so as to prepare them for future challenges and equally discourage them from engaging in various crimes”.

The governor assured that in line with the policy trust of his administration of shared prosperity as encapsulated in the three 3Rs of Rehabilitation, Recovery and Reconstruction, the government under his watch would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that youths of Imo State extraction are kept off crime and other social vices by keeping them meaningfully engaged.

Uzodinma told the excited youths that “You have often heard it said that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, keeping you busy will save you from temptation. Sociology experts believe that there is correlation between unemployment and crime”.

He further stated that government is determined to get the youths gainfully  employed in order to keep them away from crime, stressing the need for the youth not to disappoint themselves and the government,

The empowerment programme of government for the youths is highly commendable and could not have come at a more opportune time than now. The empowerment is coming at a time when the youths more than ever before need to be distracted from being used by unscrupulous elements to unleash violence in the society. Like the governor rightly pointed out, an idle mind is a ready tool in the hand of the devil.

By this empowerment programme, the Uzodinma led administration in Imo State has laid a solid foundation for a sustainable means of livelihood for the youths of the state. No doubt, the programme would have a significant positive spillover effect on the economy of the state that is recovering from the orgy of violence that rocked the state in the past few months.

Indirect beneficiaries of this programme include farmers, transporters, vendors, equipment suppliers and others along the entire value chain of different lines of engagement that the youths might decide to go into. More than the 15,000 youths that are the core beneficiaries would not only be empowered but would lead to multiple wealth creation.

The empowerment programme would go a long way in boosting people’s confidence in government. There is no gainsaying that fact that over the years, the general confidence of the people on government has been on constant decline as people take with handful of salt promises from government and its officials.

The disbursement programme is a timely intervention by the government to restore hope and confidence in the people. Thus, promising to empower the youths and delivering on the promise in a record time is a confidence booster for the government.

However, beyond the disbursement of the funds, the state government should put in place the necessary machinery to ensure that the beneficiaries are properly monitored and mentored in order to ensure that the beneficiaries in the state enjoy a sustained spill over effects of the programme.

It is instructive to note that setting up a business goes beyond provision of capital. The state government therefore, should as a matter of urgency, liaise with development finance institutions (DFIs) and other specialized agencies like National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) to help further fine-tune the business development strategies to ensure the sustainability of their business enterprises.

That way, both the State government, the beneficiaries and the entire state would be the beneficiaries of the multiplier effects of the entire empowerment programme. As the youths are engaged in productive ventures, they would be in a position to not only fend for themselves, but also create jobs for others and  the state government would not only increase its revenue base from taxes and levies but also have a more conducive atmosphere to conduct the affairs of the state as youth restiveness as a result of unemployment would be reduced to the barest minimum.