Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has said that it is strategic to equip the teeming youth population with tools and techniques they need to be productive as they remain the strength of the country.

Speaking on Tuesday at a strategy dialogue on the Edo State Youth Development Policy, Obaseki, who was represented by the Secretary to the State government, Osarodion Ogie, said his administration has carried out laudable projects geared at skills development and other employment opportunities for the youths.

He said, “Some of the stakeholders have partnered with the government to ensure that the issues of youths are not only raised but addressed, and it is a process that we will continue to work on while doing our best to leave no one behind.

“The strength of any nation is in her youth population, and the strategic thing to do is to equip this teeming population with the tools and techniques to be productive.

“My administration has carried out laudable projects geared at skills development and other employment opportunities. We have projects like the Edo Innovation hub, the Edo Production center, Edo Tech Park and the Edo Creative Hub. These have been put in place to get the youths and even teenagers engaged in activities relevant to today’s thriving enterprise.

“We have decided to make issues that relate to youth development more structured through an important legal framework that will transcend this administration through the Edo Youth Development Policy, for which we are gathered here today.

“This policy will address critical and relevant issues that Edo Youths face and measures that will be put in place to enable them to have access to basic services that their age demographic require.”

The Commissioner for Youth and Humanitarian Affairs, Chris Nehikhare, said the state government is concerned about the welfare of her citizenry and has continued to invest resources both fiscal and manpower in the socio-economic development of residents of the State.

He added, “The youth demographic is a huge part of our population, and though they form the lower percentile of the working population, the contribution of the youth to national development cannot be undermined nor ignored.

“The Nigerian youth, especially in recent happenings, have continued to stir up within themselves yearnings for wide-scale development and amplified their voices through self-motivated endeavours as well as role models-influenced achievements.

“They have subtly but effectively dominated creative and tech-based business spaces and have created a niche for themselves which has evolved to normative and widely accepted environments for thriving businesses,” he added.

Representatives of the GIZ, a German corporation in Nigeria, Constantin Pirjol said a policy that would encourage the employment of the youths should be put in place, nothing that it will go a long way in determining whether the youth population would be an asset or not.

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