How Gov. Ahmed Is Promoting Youth Development in Kwara .Hammed Opeyemi

How Gov. Ahmed Is Promoting Youth Development in Kwara .

On Sunday, Nigerian youths joined their counterparts across the world to celebrate the 2018 International Youth Day (IYD) that has the theme, “Safe Spaces for Youths.” IYD is marked annually on the 12th of August and is an initiative that celebrates the qualities of young people and that recognises the challenges that youth face in today’s world. Various activities are held by governments and civil society groups worldwide to mark this Day.

Let me quickly add that Kwara State was not left out of this celebration as the State government organised a Youth Summit tagged ‘Kwara Youth Reinvention 2018’. The theme of the summit was ‘Inspiring Innovative Thinking towards Self-Reliance, Economic Growth and Sustainable Development.”  Different groups in the state have also held events to observe the IYD.

In the spirit of this celebration, we deemed it noteworthy to x-ray some of the youth-centered programmes and policies that have been initiated by the present administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed in Kwara. Since he assumed office, Alhaji Ahmed has implemented several youth development and empowerment initiatives for the benefit of young people in the State.

At the inception of his administration in 2011, Governor Ahmed launched the Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme (KWABES) as a platform to generate reliable data of unemployed youths in the State and engage them in productive ventures. At the launching of the scheme, Governor Ahmed explained that his government’s desire to avert youth restiveness as a result joblessness led to the establishment of the scheme. 

No fewer than 2000 unemployed youths in the State were, therefore, engaged under the scheme within the first 100 days of his administration, and more than 1000 of them have transited to permanent positions in the State civil service. The scheme was suspended in 2016 to allow for a review and overhaul. It was, however, recently resuscitated by the government and youth in the State have been asked to register.

In realization of the importance of youth entrepreneurship, the State government in 2013 partnered the Kwara State University (KWASU) to train 150 selected youth on entrepreneurship development and they were equipped with the necessary tools to become successful entrepreneurs. They also had access to N50million loan facility to start or grow their businesses.

Similarly, the government introduced a standard vocational skill acquisition programme under which, 60 master trainers were accredited to train participating youths in 23 trades. This led to the establishment of the Quickwin programme and more than 1800 youths participated in the skill acquisition programme.

Furthermore, in his drive to encourage youth entrepreneurship through vocational training, Governor Ahmed established the International Vocational Training and Entrepreneurship College (IVTEC) at Ajase-Ipo in Irepodun local government area of the State. IVTEC is designed to create a generation of highly employable artisans and prosperous youth entrepreneurs through the provision of market relevant skills, leading to City and Guilds of London certification. 

In order to expand access to education at IVTEC, Governor Ahmed approved a 70 per cent scholarship for indigenes of Kwara to study at the College. He also approved a full scholarship for a three-month special training programme for 195 indigent students – 123 of these students are currently receiving training at the College. About 25 students trained in solar installation, troubleshooting and maintenance recently graduated from the College under a joint State and Riccofortezza-Asteven Energy Limited sponsorship.

Speaking on Sunday at the Youth Summit organized by the State government, Governor Ahmed announced that the State government in partnership with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and World Bank will sponsor 1000 annually for training at IVTEC. He also flagged off the Kwara Youth Empowerment Programme (KWAYEP) Corps that is designed as a platform to create employment and empowerment opportunities for the teeming youth in the state.

No doubt, many young entrepreneurs lack access to capital to develop their business ideas or flourish their existing businesses. To tackle this challenge, Governor Ahmed in 2012 launched the Kwara Micro-credit Intervention scheme to provide financial support to small and medium scale business owners. Under the scheme, priority is given to young people and women. An initial sum of N250m was approved by the governor to kick start the scheme. About N1.9billion has been injected into the scheme, leading to a turnover of over N3.2billion.

The Kwara State government has provided several empowerment opportunities for youths in Agriculture. In 2013, over 100 youth were deployed to the New Yidi Fish Farm and another 300 deployed to the Malete Integrated Youth Farm. Additionally, the government is prioritizing youths and women in its Estate Farm Initiative under the Off-takers Demand Driven Agriculture (ODDA) scheme. In fact, youth farmers oversubscribed the 2500 hectares of land cleared by the State government for farming activities.

Also, in March 2017, the Kwara State government in partnership with Google, trained over 1000 youths on digital skills and online opportunities. The government also organized a sensitization workshop on business conceptualization/planning and how to access both local foreign loans and grants, which was attended by over 600 young ambitious entrepreneurs in the State.

As envisioned by the Governor Ahmed-led administration, these programmes have impacted positively on youth development in Kwara, created more opportunities for the youth and expanded economic activities in the State.