Delta State empowers 6000 unemployed youths, says Eboh

Delta Job and Wealth Creation Bureau Officer, Prof Eric Eboh has said that the state trained and established over 6,000 unemployed youths in vocational and agricultural enterprises.

Prof. Eboh made this known yesterday in Asaba during the Entrepreneurship and Business Management Training (EBMT) for 246 STEP beneficiaries of 2020/2021 Cycle.

At the training, which spanned about four hours, the Job creation Officer, charged the Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) beneficiaries in Fashion Design and Tailoring to harness their hidden potentials creatively to become successful entrepreneurs in the fashion industry.

Eboh pointed out that the training was organised to expose the beneficiaries to business management and entrepreneurship skills to help them succeed in their enterprises.

He said the EBMT is the last part of the STEP training programme, which comes after the trainees have undergone four other activities – namely the Screening/Selection Process, Orientation and Personal Effectiveness Training, Vocational Skills Training and Completion Proficiency Test.

While congratulating them on the successful completion of the various training activities and the Completion Proficiency Test, he advised them to find a shop, set-up and register their businesses immediately after the EBMT and establishment with starter pack.

He affirmed that with the completion of the 2020/2021 STEP/YAGEP Cycle, the State Government has changed the narrative for the jobless youths in the state.

Accordingly, seasoned resource persons were selected to teach them business skills on “how to start and run business, how to manage business money, how to grow business, how to market product, how to relate well with customers, how to keep business records and how to cope with business challenges”.

Also, the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Youth Monitoring and Mentoring (DYMM), Mr Edward Mekwunye, charged them to make good use of the opportunity provided by the State Government to become great entrepreneurs and successful business owners.

He assured them that DYMM would visit them to verify their business status at their shops two months after establishment and to enrol them for mentorship programmmes in line with the mandate of the agency.

In his lectures entitled, “How to Start Your Business” and “How to Write a Business Plan,” a resource person, Pastor Afolabi Adun, urged the graduands to carry out feasibility study/market survey about the business to understand the business environment better before setting-up. He enjoined them to take seriously customer care and proper record keeping at all times.