Rt. Hon Toby Okechukwu, the re-elected member representing Awgu, Aninri and Oji River Constituency in the House of Representatives has urged government at all levels to invest more in capacity building for the teeming unemployed youths.
Okechukwu spoke at the official graduation ceremony of 51 youths who completed their training at the Scientific Equipment Development Institute (SEDI) Enugu.
The training was courtesy of the lawmaker.
They underwent trainings in welding technology and fabrication of Agro machines, ICT (programming), plastic moulding, Lens making, Glass Blowing, Recycling Waste to Wealth, Electrical Installation, wiring and maintenance, among others.
In his remarks, Okechukwu, accompanied by the incoming House of Reps member, representing Nkanu West and Nkanu East, Hon Nnolim Nnaji, lauded the Managing Director of the Institute, Engr Prof. Samuel Ndubuisi Nwangwu, the staff and management, whom he said have become partners in progress.
He said, “the idea of empowering youths from our constituency is to provide them with skills that will launch them into the public domain, where they will earn legitimate wages to take care of themselves, their families and by extension, become useful to the society.”
He added that government can only employ a negligible percentage of the people in the labour market, “and that is why it had become necessary to take conscious steps towards empowering our constituents, so they will in turn empower others, and gradually, unemployment and poverty would become history.
“So, there should be efforts to empower the unemployed youths and make them survive without white kola jobs.”
He promised to open a liaison desk in his constituency office, where progress of the young graduands would be monitored and subsequently guided.
The lawmaker charged them to go into the society and create wealth for themselves as they get usefully engaged for the greater good of the society.
Highlight of the event was the presentation of financial grant and tools to the graduands by Okechukwu.
Meanwhile, this came after 50 others were trained in 3D epoxy floor and wall furnishing at the Cooperative College, Oji River, while others were trained at the metallurgical training Institute, Onitsha.
