Basin authority empowers 1,000 youths in Ogun State  

The Ogun-Osun River Basin Authority (OORBA) Abeokuta, Ogun State, has organised empowerment programme for 1, 000 youths in various fields.The youths would be trained in soap making, packaging and confectioneries among others were selected from various parts of the State.
 
The programme, which is sponsored by the Federal Government, is part of efforts to reduce youth empowerment in the country.Flagging off the programme in Abeokuta, the Managing Director of the Authority, Olufemi Olayemi Odumosun, disclosed that the aim of the programme was to give the youth the capacity to take control of their circumstances and achieve their own goals, be it personal or in their life.
 
According to him, the programme would cover both theoretical and practical classes, which would be handled by seasoned professionals and entrepreneurs with wide-range of experimental expertise. Odumosun added that at the end of the training, participants would be empowered with necessary tools and ‘seed capital’ to assist them in setting up their own businesses.
 
He added that participants that are trained in arable farming would be allocated parcels of land with agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizer, and insecticide, among others.His words: “Youth are the backbone of the society and the nation. They have the wherewithal to positively changer the course history and future of the society particularly if they have been given requisite capacity, skills, training and education thereby positioning them at a vantage position.”
 
“The Federal government through the Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority is kick-starting the first phase of the youth empowerment programme to develop and enhance the capacity of our youth for entrepreneurship, self-reliance and financial autonomy thereby becoming employer of labour and contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation.”
 
Odumosun further disclosed that a monitoring team of the Federal government would ensure constant evaluation and monitoring of the participants after graduation to ensure the success of the programme.