The Abia State Government has thrown its weight behind the Federal Government’s Youth Economic Intervention and De-Radicalisation Programme (YEIDEP), with a target to register and onboard at least one million young people in the state.

The programme, which was officially flagged off in Umuahia on Friday August 21, 2026 is designed to address youth unemployment, poverty and the risk of radicalisation by providing young Nigerians with business grants, training and other forms of support.

Speaking on behalf of the Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, at the event, the Commissioner representing the governor said the programme came at a critical time when young Nigerians needed opportunities to acquire skills, establish businesses and contribute to economic development.

The commissioner said, “Our young people need opportunities to learn, work, start businesses and grow their businesses. When young people have opportunities, they can build better lives for themselves, support their families and contribute to the growth of our state and country.”

According to the commissioner, YEIDEP would provide support to Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 35 across sectors including agriculture, technology, renewable energy, tourism, entertainment, fashion and beauty, food, health and other creative enterprises.

He noted that the initiative was particularly relevant to Abia, which he described as a state with a strong culture of entrepreneurship.

“Across our communities, young people are already making shoes, clothes, furniture and other products. They are building businesses in technology, farming, food, entertainment and many other areas,” he said.

“What many of them need is support. They need access to finance, better skills, good business knowledge and opportunities to reach bigger markets. YEIDEP can help provide some of these opportunities.”

The commissioner said more than 200,000 young people in Abia had already expressed interest in the programme and registered through its digital platform, while the Federal Government was targeting more than 20 million young Nigerians nationwide.

He urged young people in the state to take advantage of the initiative, whether they already owned businesses or merely had ideas they wanted to develop.

“If you already have a business, register and see how the programme can help you grow it. If you have an idea for a business, this may be the opportunity to take that first step,” he said.

He also called on traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth organisations, student bodies, cooperatives and community groups to assist in mobilising eligible young people to participate.

The commissioner said the state government’s support for YEIDEP was consistent with Otti’s administration’s focus on creating opportunities for young people, developing human capital and expanding the state’s economy.

He, however, stressed that the success of the programme should not be judged by the number of registrations alone.

“The success of YEIDEP will not be measured only by the number of people who register. It will be measured by the number of businesses that are created, the businesses that grow, the jobs that are created and the lives that are improved,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Coordinator-General of YEIDEP, Kennedy Iyere, described the initiative as an economic emancipation programme aimed at tackling youth poverty, unemployment and the conditions that could make young people vulnerable to radicalisation.

Iyere warned that Nigeria’s future could be threatened if urgent measures were not taken to address youth poverty and hopelessness.

“Nigeria is fast becoming a country where the next 10 years is not assured unless something drastic is done to address the threats of youth poverty and hopelessness,” he said.

He urged state governors to prioritise investment in young people and ensure that the Federal Government’s youth intervention programmes reached their states.

Iyere commended Otti for welcoming the YEIDEP initiative to Abia, saying the governor had demonstrated the kind of leadership needed to attract economic opportunities for young people.

He said, “This is the reason why every governor must learn from people like Dr. Alex Otti, the Executive Governor of Abia State, who with both arms opened, received us. He became part of this economic emancipation movement. This is a movement for economic emancipation.”

Iyere further criticised governors who, according to him, collect federal funds without adequately investing in youth development and employment creation.

He said, “Governors who have started going to Abuja to take money from the President every other month are not doing with the money what they should do, which is the prioritisation of investment in the youth of Nigeria to address the menace of unemployment. They should better have a rethink.”

He also warned political leaders against treating youth-focused interventions as instruments for political advantage, insisting that YEIDEP was an apolitical programme intended to benefit young Nigerians.

“The Youth Economic Intervention and De-Radicalisation Programme has been made available by the Federal Government for the benefit of all the youth of Nigeria and should be a project embraced by every governor,” Iyere said.

He maintained that economic hardship and lack of opportunities could increase young people’s vulnerability to criminality and radicalisation.

“The vulnerability of youth to radicalisation is usually orchestrated or occasioned by social and economic misery,” he said.

“When the youths have lost hope in the nation, they tend to do things that will not exist in the interest of the nation. That is why we have so much rascality today within the system.”

Iyere urged young Nigerians to register for the programme and make use of the opportunities being provided by the Federal Government.

The Abia State Government, meanwhile, assured the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and the YEIDEP team of its cooperation in ensuring that the programme delivers tangible benefits to young people in the state.