The Abia State Government, through its Education for Employment (E4E) Agency, has partnered with Innoson- Kiara Academy and the German Government to train over 2,200 youths from five states of South East Nigeria.

The Southeast Region of Nigeria comprises five states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States. The youths would be trained on various automobile diagnostics and repair techniques with the commissioning of two Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing plants – Bosch Automobile Service and Maintenance Workshops and Training Centres- at the multi-skills entrepreneurship and development centre, Umuobiakwa and Ahia Eke Umuogele Nvosi in Obingwa and Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Abia state.
 
The states governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, while commissioning the workshops through his post-basic Education Commissioner, Chijioke Mark, said the project was designed to assist people already learning automobile technical skills to acquire new methods of automobile maintenance and repairs. 
   
He recalled that in the state’s drive to boost technical skills acquisition, the government in collaboration with the World Bank-assisted Ideas Project, revamped three government technical colleges located at Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia, where the students and youths would be technically equipped for direct and self-employments in factories after successful graduation.

Director General of E4E, Endi Ezengwa, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Innoson Kiara Academy, disclosed that the two commissioned workshops were part of the 25 being established in the five South East states to train 2,200 unemployed youths in three years.
 
He also announced that auto technicians have already been deployed to the commissioned workshops from Nnewi and Enugu branches of the academy, and other development partners, to equip the trainees with necessary skills.
 
Representative of the National Board For Technical Education (NBTE) in the South East, Ngozi Okelekwe, who noted that with the necessary machines have already been installed to facilitate the training at the workshops, hinted that the board would closely monitor the trainings with a view to consider possible certification of the successful graduates to qualify them to practice anywhere in Nigeria.