Benson Ojoko, Project Coordinator of the World Bank-assisted State Employment Expenditure for Results, has said more than 20,000 youths will be engaged via the project in Delta State.
Ojoko told the News Agency of Nigeria in Asaba, the Delta State capital, that the thrust of the project was to enhance opportunities for youth employment in the state.
He explained that through the vehicle of public works, the project would help to facilitate youth employment in the state, adding that youth unemployment was a major challenge currently facing the society.
Ojoko stressed that the major target of the project was to ensure that youths were meaningfully engaged, in furtherance of the Federal Government’s amnesty programme in the Niger Delta region.
He said: “The project, which has duration of five years, would create employment for more than 20,000 youths in the state.
“We will achieve this through the vehicle of public works, which would engage the youths in the cleaning of drainages, patching of pot holes and road maintenance.”
Ojoko said that the World Bank had earmarked $200 million (about N32 billion) for the project, adding that the state had paid its counterpart funding of N300 million for two years.
He, however, said that apart from the public works, six technical colleges had been approved for the training of youths in special vocational skills across the state.
He said that each of the selected institutions would receive an improvement grant of N20 million per annum for a period of five years.
Ojoko stressed that the essence of the grant was to improve the learning environment of the institutions and provide quality learning facilities in the schools.
The coordinator also said that another aspect of the project was the Public Finance Management Reform, adding that the World Bank, through the reform, would help to improve on the financial management of the state.
He said that the project was also being implemented in Edo, Rivers and Bayelsa States.
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