The FCT Administration says it will provide a strong platform for youth empowerment and job creation by establishing a full-fledged department of youth development.
The FCT Minister, Sen. Bala Mohammed, stated this on Wednesday in a paper he presented at the 5th National Council on Youth Development holding in Abuja.
The minister, who was represented by Mrs Uche Nwafor, the Special Assistant to FCT Minister on Youths, said the construction of an Ultra-Modern Youth Support Centre in Nyaya, Abuja, would be commissioned soon.
Mohammed also said that over 5,000 youth-volunteers were to be engaged as enforcement officers, while 1,500 youths would be trained on various trades and to be supported with soft loans.
“Efforts should be stepped up to ensure that our youths are equipped with knowledge, as well as entrepreneurial skills and orientation that will satisfy the demands of the country.”
Also, the Minister of Youth Development, Inuwa Abdul-Kadir, said that the ministry had reached advanced stage in establishing a sustainable platform for the inclusion of mentorship in youth’s programmes.
The minister said the National Mentorship Programme, which would be launched soon, was designed to provide a viable avenue for youths to acquire marketable skills for self-reliance, job creation and empowerment.
Abdul-Kadir also said that the ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UNDP for a Junior Professional Officers programme that would recruit young Nigerians to work in the United Nation’s system for two years.
“This is to acquaint them with the requirements of international civil service jobs,”he added.
According to Abdul-Kadir, this programme will be fully funded by the Federal Government and recruitment will be based on character and merit when it takes off in January 2013.
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