Minister, Senate task youth on entrepreneurship, Ortom pledges commitment to empowerment

• Over 5,000 SMEs to benefit from Kebbi CARES
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, has called on Nigerian youths to engage in entrepreneurship, instead of waiting for white-collar jobs.

Speaking during this year’s International Youth Day in Abuja, yesterday, themed ‘Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health’, Dare noted that in the wake of a pandemic, the theme identified youth engagement as a key factor in the transformation of food systems.

Commending President Muhammadu Buhari’s effort on youth development, he said: “The Buhari-led administration, through the ministry and other partners, will step up awareness creation to enable our youths make informed decisions on food choices in line with the increasing global education on the healthiest and most sustainable options for both individuals and the environment.

In the same vein, the Senate has congratulated youths for their resilience in contributing to national development.

Chairman, Media and Public Affairs of the Senate, Dr. Surajudeen Basiru, stated, yesterday, that the relevance of this year’s theme was huge and could not be over-emphasised, especially, coming at the time of rising staple food prices and when youths should divert more energy to agriculture.

IN Benue State, Governor Samuel Ortom said his administration would continue to prioritise programmes that seek to empower youths and give them a sense of belonging.

Ortom, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, maintained that last year’s #EndSARS protests threw up the urgency for greater efforts by government at all levels to address the yearnings of young people.

He said it was in the bid to find viable solution to the needs of young people in the state that his administration organised the 2020 Benue Youth Summit, which birthed plausible recommendations.

NO fewer than 5,000 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are expected to benefit from the COVID-19-Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) programme, Result Area 3, in Kebbi State.

This was disclosed, yesterday, by the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Abba Kalgo, in a training of field agents organised by the ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, with the Bank of industry (BoI) at Birnin Kebbi.

He added that the World Bank-assisted programme, in collaboration with the Federal Government, was aimed to facilitating the activities in the economic sector targeting SMEs directly or indirectly affected by the pandemic.