The National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC) has trained 689 Benue youths in 29 different vocational skills and resettled them with starter parks.

N-HYPPADEC managing director (MD), Abubakar Yelwa, said on Thursday in Makurdi that the beneficiaries were trained under the N-HYPPADEC Youth Transformation Programme (YTP).

Mr Yelwa stated that the participants underwent training for three to six months depending on their chosen vocation.

He said the programme was conceived against the backdrop of the widespread unemployment and pervasive poverty adversely affecting youths in the power-producing areas of the country.

“You may recall that floods have been recurrent in these areas due to decades of operations of the hydroelectric dams.

“Consequently, many communities were variously displaced and economic activities were disrupted.

“As these disasters render youth populations poor and vulnerable, violent crimes, insecurity, and all forms of social delinquency began to crop up.

“It was against this backdrop that the Commission launched the YTP in 2022 as a corrective measure,” he said.

Mr Yelwa explained that the diversity and scope of the training programmes reflected the commitment of the commission to address various sectors of the economy.

The managing director said fashion design/tailoring had the largest number of beneficiaries with 129 trainees, fish farming had 125, and poultry farming had 84.

He said the training also included modern technological fields such as computer software and web design, CCTV installation, and phone repairs.

“We have already reviewed the major challenges we have faced while executing the first edition of the YTP, and we are now working towards a hitch-free second edition of the programme.

“In the second edition, we are planning to upscale the programme.

“We are mooting the idea of establishing an entrepreneurship and empowerment unit in the commission, which is part of our medium-term strategic plan,” he said.

Mr Yelwa commended the Benue government and the traditional rulers for their unending support to the commission while carrying out their activities in the state.

Senator George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), said the federal government would continue to support N-HYPPADEC to succeed on her mandate.

Mr Akume said the event sought to emancipate the teeming youths from the shackles of poverty.

The SGF, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Simeon Tyungu, said the initiative is a paradigm shift from that of unemployment to that of gainful employment, self-reliance, and financial independence.

He urged N-HYPPADEC to redouble its effort and energy towards taking the nation out of the doldrums of poverty.

“I feel obligated to commend the initiators of this life-changing programme for going the extra mile to ensure that the 5000 beneficiaries across the six pioneer states of the commission transit to business owners.

“They did this by requesting the business names of the participants and addresses, which have already been registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC),” he said.

Governor Hyacinth Alia, in his remarks, urged the FG to continue to fund the commission and other government agencies to fulfil their mandates.

Represented by his deputy, Sam Ode, Mr Alia said the training has taken many youths out of the streets and unlocked their potentials in the entrepreneurship world.

He further appealed to the FG to increase the number of beneficiaries for the state to 1000 in the next batch of trainees. 

(NAN)