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| STEP and YAGEPreneurs during training in Delta. |
CHUKWUDI ABIANDU writes on the gains of the effort of the Delta State government to create jobs and keep the teaming youths busy and engaged.
“Success starts when
you are inspired to make the effort. Inspiration comes when you are motivated
to be dissatisfied with things as they are. Inspirational dissatisfaction is
therefore, the strongest single force in your success system that never fails”-
Anonymous.
The foregoing sayings of an anonymous sage would
appear to have captured the workings of the mind of Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa
long before he became governor of Delta State. And attempting to understand the
growing army of the unemployed in the state would probably provide answers to
the governor’s thoughts and ruminations which coalesced into his now famous
declaration: “This can’t be allowed to continue”.
Dissatisfied with the unemployment situation, the
thought soon developed into a burning desire, a vision and focused intention to
do something about it. Five years on, amazing and humbling testimonies as
fruits produced from the governor’s inspirational dissatisfaction with the
unacceptable unemployment rate in Delta state, has brought joy, succour and
hope to jobless able bodied men and women who, hitherto, had a forlorn hope
about what to do with their lives, and what the future held for them.
Today, lives have been changed and enhanced;
destinies shaped for the better. Thirty-one year old Authentic Ojuwa, from
Obiaruku, in Ukwuani Local Government Area who did the Skills Training and
Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) specialising in computer hardware repairs,
having acquired skills in computer appreciation and software said: “For the
first time in Delta State, we are seeing a programme that is availing the youth
the ultimate opportunity to be involved in job creation”.
Another STEP participant apprenticed in electrical installation, Suowei Felix,
31 years, from Kiagbodo, Burutu Local Government Area, said: “This programme
has impacted my life positively, especially in the area of acquiring skill and
making use of it”.
Yet, another product of the skill acquisition
programme, Bridget Apodor, a cosmetologist and beauty therapist from Bomadi
Local Government and a graduate of economics from Delta State University,
Abraka had this to say: “I was unemployed for six years after graduation from
the university. I was in and out of private jobs for those years without a
steady means of livelihood. I was discouraged and confused. But thanks be to
God, I was prayerful. Hearing God’s word encouraged me and I believed that
someday there would be a change. Suddenly, the change came. It was a drastic
change. The opportunity came; my husband came; the training came. I was trained
for three months by the Delta State Government at ‘Body and Mind,’ Asaba”. And
that began a new song for her.
Of course, for Dr. Okowa, the opportunity came for
him to do something about his inspirational dissatisfaction when on May 29,
2015, he took the oath of office to pilot the affairs of the state as governor.
Soon after the swearing in, he hit the ground running by unveiling his
five-point SMART Agenda with “Strategic wealth creation and provision of job
for all Deltans” as number one in the docket.
Next, he established the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer, with Prof.
Eric Eboh, an Agro Economist as the chief job creation officer. The office was
created to design, plan, coordinate, train, implement and communicate the job
creation programmes with direct responsibility to the governor.
The aim was to equip unemployed youths, (graduates
and school leavers) with vocational skills, training in agriculture,
orientation and mindset change, life skills, entrepreneurship and resources to
become self-employed, entrepreneurs, managers, leaders and job creators.
On August 26, 2015, Governor Okowa inaugurated the Job
and Wealth Creation scheme, declaring: “The job creation programme has been
strategically designed to tackle the problems of youth unemployment and to
produce lasting and sustainable prosperity across board through focused efforts
to stimulate the growth and development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs) which are the backbone for economic growth and social development in
any society”.
The implementation strategy for the scheme involved
Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP), Skills Training and
Entrepreneurship (STEP) and Graduate Enhancement Programme (GEEP). Five years
after, Prof. Eboh speaks on the monumental successes recorded thus far: “The
success drivers are underpinned by the fact that from a philosophical
standpoint, the programme design and implementation are trainee-centred,
service oriented and results-based. In the same wise, every design element and
implementation measure is focused primarily on turning unemployed youths into
entrepreneurs, leaders and managers. The STEP and YAGEP training and mentoring
process aim beyond raising entrepreneurs, to producing leaders and managers
that have high levels of personal responsibility and personal effectiveness”.
While STEP involves acquisition of vocational
skills, YAGEP focuses on agricultural and agro-processing; while GEEP aims at
linking unemployed graduates with professional trainings to companies for
internship in anticipation that such companies will employ them. No fewer than
4,200 STEP and YAGEP beneficiaries have been trained and established and they
own and run their enterprises from 2015 till date.
Mr. Terry Ogolor, from Udu Local Government Area who
was part of the 2016/2017 cycle of programme beneficiaries gave this
testimonial: “I want to share my life testimony of how the SMART agenda of
Governor Okowa has transformed my life and liberated me from being a job seeker
to an entrepreneur. Upon graduation in 2009, I was unemployed. Initially, I
taught in a private school, but discovered that the N10,000 I was paid was
nothing to write home about. Thereafter, I started hustling on the streets, but
the street was not friendly.
“One day a friend told me about job creation form.
“Though I applied, I was not shortlisted. The second time, I reluctantly
applied; I thought it was a scam, one of those government programmes. To my
greatest surprise, I was invited to attend the interview after which I did not
hear from the job creation office for a while. I became frustrated and
concluded it was a scam and gave up.
“Back to the streets, to feed was a problem. My
friends suggested I go into crime to survive. While planning on what to do, the
Office of the Job Creation Officer published the list of successful applicants
and those who saw my name informed me. I was invited to camp. At the camp, I
had three square meals daily throughout. For the first time in my life, it was
unbelievable I could have three meals daily. I was no longer hungry and any
thought of going into crime vanished from my mind because I was comfortable
with life at the Orientation camp. In fact, I had a rethink and decided to get
serious with my life after the Orientation and Personal Effectiveness Training
(OPET).
“Thereafter, I had a three month internship, where I
became well grounded in fish production. My trainer was good. Shortly after, I
was given 2,000 juveniles, I50 bags of fish feed, a monthly stipend of N15,000
for six months, two earthen ponds and other items. My assessment of the Starter
Park, excluding the ponds was over a million Naira. I was shocked and I began
to shed tears. I then pledged that I would remain indebted to the state governor
for life. The only way I could pay back was to ensure that I succeeded in my
enterprise.
“Apart from fish farming, I am into transportation
now. I was able to use some of the proceeds from my fish farm after harvest to
buy a tricycle (Keke). My colleagues at the farm pay me to transport their
feeds for them from the point of purchase to the cluster. Also, I use the keke
to supply feeds to various farms on behalf of feed sellers, and I am well paid.
My daily routine is work at the farm in the morning, resume transportation and
return to the farm by 5p.m.
“Today, I am a happy fish farm owner at YAGEP Fish
Farm cluster, Ugbokodo-Okpe. I fend for myself, my family and friends because
of what Governor Okowa did for me. I am into the sixth production cycle now. I
have grown my fish from 2,000 to over 4,000 in four ponds. I now set up fish
farms for people; I am into consultancy by experience. I help those with
challenges in their farms and the pay is good. Thanks to the vision of His
Excellency, the Governor of Delta State for making me a consultant in fish
production”.
No doubt, the relatively long testimony of Terry
Ogolor speaks of the impact that the job creation and entrepreneurship
programme has made, and is making among youths in the state that have embraced
it. Counting the harvest of job creation, the Chief Job Creation Officer, Prof.
Eric Eboh stated: “While the introduction of the job creation scheme may have
been attended by skepticism and based on poor performance of previous youth
empowerment programmes, the professionalism and transparency of implementation
quickly elicited programme credibility and wide acceptance from the target
audience and stakeholders”.
Now the fruits of the programme are rolling in via
landmark maturation stories that beneficiaries are telling, with joy written
all over them. The beneficiaries remain living proofs of the journey that began
with Okowa’s dissatisfaction with the unemployment status of our youths,
culminating in a vision to change things for the better, and climaxing in
dynamism with the job creation system in Delta where entrepreneurs are being
raised, wealth built and jobs created.
* Source:
https://www.independent.ng/fruits-of-okowas-job-creation-scheme/
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