In a bid to tackle endemic poverty and insecurity in the Niger Delta, the European Union (EU) has committed about $6.35 million to train Niger Delta youths and vulnerable groups in entrepreneurship and business development skills in the region.

The disclosure was made by Chorbe Joshua Gonlur, Consortium Manager for Search for Common Ground, during the Social Media Listening Report validation meeting held in Asaba, Delta State.

According to him, 794 individuals — the majority being youths and other vulnerable people — are billed for training across three Niger Delta states: Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta States.

“Of the total, 595 participants are under the Search for Common Ground initiative, while 200 are drawn from the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN).

“The training, delivered in collaboration with the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), cuts across 66 communities where stakeholders identified pressing livelihood and economic challenges.

“Beneficiaries will undergo three to six months of training, depending on the chosen skill, after which they are expected to receive starter packs to launch small-scale businesses,” he said.

The programme covers 23 different sectors, ranging from technical and vocational skills to small enterprise development.

According to him, the intervention is designed to combat illegal oil bunkering, cultism, drug abuse, and other social vices that have fueled instability in the Niger Delta.

Gonlur noted that recruitment was done through open advertisements in communities, followed by a selection process managed by local committees to ensure fairness.

While Gonlur hinted at ongoing discussions with the Ministry of Labour and Employment to strengthen the programme’s sustainability, some participants argued that without robust monitoring, transparency, and market access for trainees, the initiative may go the way of past efforts that failed to stem youth restiveness.

They raised concerns about the sustainability of such interventions in a region where billions of naira have previously been spent on youth empowerment schemes with limited long-term impact, saying for many communities in the oil-rich but impoverished region, the EU-funded training represents a fresh opportunity — but whether it can break the cycle of dependency, corruption, and neglect that has long plagued development projects in the Niger Delta remains to be seen.