For the successful participants of the Skills, Training and
Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) are to utilize their training effectively to
become better entrepreneurs and employers of labour, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of
Delta State have charged the graduands.
The governor gave the charge last Monday during the presentation
of starter parks to the second batch graduates of the 2015 Skills Training and
Entrepreneurship programme (STEP) in Asaba, amid protests by some beneficiaries
against the absence of generator, a fundamental equipment that should be in
place to enhance their business start up, as well as alleged inferior starter
packs provided to them.
He explained that they had
a responsibility to put into good use the training they have acquired and
utilize the starter packs given to empower themselves.
“I must commend you graduates for successfully completing your
training and you have all been equipped well enough for you to go into the
world and start up your ventures, and in no distant time become employers of
labour”, he said, adding: “As a government, it is our joy that youths acquire
skills which will make them self-reliant and we are expecting you to grow and
become bigger entrepreneurs as you all are now role models for other youths in
the state”.
In the mild protest that ensued when a certain section of the
group of trainees, made up mostly of those trained in electrical works, remonstrated
over what they claimed was the incomplete, inadequate and substandard starter
packs provided by the state government for them.
The group, which chanted songs like ‘we
no go gree ooo, we no go gree’ complained that the starter
pack, which did not contain a generator set, would not be adequate to start up
their business, as they would need the generator to complete the package for
which they had been trained.
The groups of trainees made up of computer hardware and repairs,
Fashion designer & Tailoring and the Electrical Installation and Repairs
trainees, equally lamented loudly over the manner they were handle in their
training camp, even as one of the beneficiaries of the Electrical Installation
and Repairs group who spoke on behalf the group said that only ladder and
incomplete and substandard tools were bought, which he noted, would not
alleviate their plight, stressing that generator set was one of the major
equipment in small-scale business considering the epileptic supply of
electricity in the country.
Addressing the group when calm was finally restored, after several
minutes of protests, Governor Okowa, who had listened to them patiently in the
spirit of a true leader who desires to hear the complaints of his people,
pleaded with them, saying: “You have a right to worry and air your view but you
don’t have to come by this way of protests. Starter pack is not compulsory
after the training, but we feel it is necessary to assist you. We will resolve
the issue and get back to you in one week.”
Urging the group not to sell the equipment given to them, Governor
Okowa pleaded with them to channel further complains to the office of job
creation and assured the graduates that some of their complaints on the starter
packs would be addressed as soon as possible, while urging them to be
disciplined and civil in their approach to issues.
He then prayed for them and promised that the state Government was
fully committed to ensuring the mandate of Prosperity for all Deltans, which he
had pledged during his campaigns.
Responding on behalf of the graduates, Mr. Austin Ogbechie
thanked Governor Okowa for the programme and the starter packs given and
assured that they would put them to good use to become better entrepreneurs in
the future.
Shedding more light on the event of the day, both the Commissioner
for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah commended the magnanimity of Governor Okowa
in listening to the complaints of the trainees and acceding to their requests,
and while assuring that the Delta State Government was committed to delivering
on its job creation agenda and fulfilling the initiatives of the SMART Agenda.
He enjoined the trainees and participants of the STEP and YAGEP programmes to
be patient as the government was poised to fulfill its pledge and drive the
prosperity for all Deltans mandate successfully.
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