21022018 - APC CRISIS LATEST :Governor demolishes senator's house

VOL. 2 NO. 19
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018
With ITF training and
empowerment, 300 youths begin
self–sustaining careers
By Vincent Ujumadu
AWKA- FOR three months,
300 youths selected from
various communities in
Anambra State were exposed
to a rigorous training
organised by the Industrial
Training Fund, ITF, under its
National Industrial Skills
Development Programme,
NISDP, after which they were
empowered with starter packs
to begin a new phase in their
lives. The programme is part
of the Federal Government’s
job creation and poverty
reduction programme in
which 11,000 youths are
targeted across the country.
Though ITF has been
training youths over the years
for skills acquisition, the 300
youths trained in Anambra
State were the first set to
receive starter packs for their
businesses. Even during the
period of the training, the
youths were paid stipends by
the Federal Government to
enable them transport
themselves to and from the
venues of the training.
In fact, at their passing out
in Awka, the joy of the youths
knew no bounds as they
danced and clutched their
equipment showing that they
were ready to join the club of
young entrepreneurs in the
country. One of their trainers,
Mr. Chris Arinze said with the
equipment given to the
beneficiaries, the sky has
become their limit. “With this
gesture from ITF, you have
been made. ITF is the only
organisation that truly
empowers youths as others are
merely used to achieve
political purposes,”Arinze
observed.
The Director-General of
ITF, Sir Joseph Ari said the
beneficiaries, who were
trained in tailoring and
fashion design, welding and
fabrication, as well as in
plumbing and pipe-fitting,
were carefully selected based
on their potential for value
addition to the growth and
development of the Nigerian
economy.
Ari, who spoke through
Mr. Peter Agu, an official of
ITF, said it was the first time
the trainees received starter
packs, adding that under the
present phase, the
empowerment would be
extended to 11,000
beneficiaries across the 26
states and the Federal Capital
Territory.
He said: “This event marks
a watershed since we
commenced implementation
of the NISDP as we have taken
How prayers from motherless babies helped me
to get Chinese visa - Nigerian-born Chinese actor
By Nwabueze Okonkwo
ONITSHA - A Nigerianborn
China-based actor
and model, Mr. James Ifeanyi
Ogbobe, has called on
wealthy and privileged
Nigerians to shower love on
the less privileged ones in the
country, particularly children
at motherless babies homes.
Speaking when he hosted
about 250 children in his
country home in Alor-Uno,
Nsukka Local Government
Area of Enugu State, Ogbobe
lamented that a lot of wealthy
and privileged Nigerians are
indifferent to the plight of less
privileged children in the
country.
The actor and model who
also visited the National
Council for Women Society,
NCWS Motherless Babies
Home in Onuiyi, Nsukka, said
the prayer of children which
helped him to secure Chinese
visa for his trip in 2009
•One of the beneficiaries receiving a starter pack from ITF
officials
•Ogbobe inset children during the party
motivated his interest in
helping them.
He said before he travelled
to China, he had challenges
getting visa, but one day, he
went to a Motherless Babies
Home in Lagos and asked them
to pray for him so that he could
get Chinese visa, which they
did. Ogbobe stated that after the
prayers, he was issued
with Chinese visa, which
The decision to
provide the packs was
informed by our
tracking and
monitoring of trainees
of the earlier phases,
which revealed that
when supported with
start-up packs, 90 per
cent of the trainees
went on to be
successful
entrepreneurs or
even employers of
labour
enabled him to travel, adding
that he realised that helping
children, especially the
motherless and less privileged
ones, was more potent than
going to herbalists who will
prepare charm for you to get
money.
“I have found out that
charity work for less
privileged children will make
me realise my ambition.
•A cross section of beneficiaries
•Some of the materials made by the trainees on display
Showing love to the children
is a far more potent force
than going to all these
spiritualists, who will help
you succeed but will tell you
that you will live for 20 years
only, as the case may be. On
February 8, 2018, I hosted 250
kids in my house, where I
feted and gave them presents
to put smiles on their faces
during the New Year,” he said.
a step further from merely
training and equipping the
youths with knowledge and
skills, to providing them with
starter packs to enable them
set up their businesses and
hit the ground running.
“The decision to provide
the packs was informed by our
tracking and monitoring of
trainees of the earlier phases,
which revealed that when
supported with start-up
packs, 90 per cent of the
trainees went on to be
successful entrepreneurs or
even employers of labour.
“The start-up packs
distributed to the trainees
should be viewed as our
practical example and
message to our stakeholders,
especially state governors
and other members of the
Organised Private Sector,
OPS, that training without
corresponding support will
not lead to expected
outcomes.”
Some of the beneficiaries
said with what they got from
ITF, they were ready to face
life challenges, which they
hope to surmount since they
have skills to prove their
worth in the society.
Anambra State governor,
Chief Willie Obiano, who was
represented at the ceremony,
commended ITF for
introducing the programme
and urged the organisation to
make the empowerment more
frequent to accommodate
more youths.
He also advised the
beneficiaries to make
maximum use of the
opportunity, noting that with
what they had received from
ITF, the sky had become the
limit for them.
C
M
Y