Stranded trainees of ‘Ibom 3,000 Project’ threaten protest

Some trainees of ‘Ibom 3000 Project” of Akwa Ibom State Government, who claimed to be abandoned, have threatened to stage a protest.

The state government, through the Ministry of Trade and Investment, had in 2021 commenced the training of 3,000 youths in a scheme meant to identify, train, empower and build capacity for Medium and Small Enterprises (SMEs) and startups across 31 councils of the state.

The scheme was meant to run in three phases with each phase having 1,000 trainees, who would focus on three areas of choice, including oil and gas, agribusiness, ICT and SMEs to enable them to secure employment.

However, the beneficiaries of the project, who successfully concluded their training on April 2021, have expressed worry that they have neither got certification nor startups as promised by the government over one year after the exercise.

It was gathered that the graduation exercise was stalled following the resignation of the then commissioner, Mr. Prince Akpabio in pursuit of his political ambition.

A trainee, who identified himself as Mfon, told The Guardian that after the exit of Akpabio, the new Commissioner, Mr. Camillus Essien Umoh, invited them to the state secretariat for graduation but later dismissed them, promising to fix another date for the exercise as he was new in office.

Mfon, who lamented that nothing had been done yet, urged the state government to fulfil its promise by giving them startups to enable them to put what they learned into practice.

Another trainee, who did not want her name in print for fear of victimisation, regretted that despite the stress they passed through and the money spent on transportation from her council area to the state secretariat, Uyo, which was their rallying point, she was yet to receive startups from government

Another trainee, identified as Joseph, said they felt abandoned by the state government, noting that plans were underway to embark on a protest.

However, a source in the Ministry of Trade and Investment, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that the graduation ceremony would have taken place in April but the resignation of Akpabio stalled it.

He also attributed the delay to the rise in the exchange rate, adding that the laptops that were supposed to be given to those in ICT were estimated at about N150, 000 each but have risen to N550,000 now, adding that the state government is doing something about that.

“They should be more patient. If they are given money equivalent they may lavish the money and that may not make meaning to them. The graduation ceremony would be done at the same time.”