PROTOCOL:

It is my pleasure to address you today on this historic occasion of the launching of the Nasarawa State programme for Economic Empowerment.

This event is a major milestone in our efforts to address the economic challenges which for long have faced our people and hindered our capacity to be major players in the economic development of Nigeria. The Economic Empowerment Programme which is being launched today is, therefore, the platform upon which our policy of creating economic opportunities, wealth and employment for the people of Nasarawa State is hinged.

Ladies and gentlemen, you will all recall that during my inaugural broadcast on 29th May, 2007, I pledged to initiate viable and sustainable economic development programmes that will lift our people above the poverty level. To this end, we made the transformation of our economic environment a crucial aspect of our 13-point agenda. Therein, we laid out in clear and concrete terms our vision of providing opportunities for the people of the State to access economic fortunes through micro-financing, cooperative ventures, business and commercial activities. Our mission is to create the enabling environment and provide the necessary support to a large percentage of our population, especially the youths and women groups, to be engaged in productive economic activities for the good of all.

The main objectives of our Economic Empowerment Programme are as follows:

• The economic emancipation and empowerment of our youth and women groups through skills acquisition for various trades and ventures;
• The creation of a business environment and economic culture which will address the absence of entrepreneurial know-how among our people;
• To stimulate the creative imagination, talent and curiosity of our youth in the pursuit for development and excellence;
• To promote self-reliance, particularly among our youth, thereby eliminating idleness with its attendant vices.
• To enhance the socio-economic status of our people.

In the pursuit of these objectives, this Administration has established a Bureau for Economic Empowerment to streamline all activities designed for implementation under the programme. The Bureau is structured into three operational directorates, namely,

• Directorate for Skills Acquisition – This directorate shall be responsible for the training of various categories of unskilled and semi-skilled youths for self-employment, as well as retooling them for specific needs of the manpower market;
• Directorate of Business Development – This directorate will serve as the storehouse for business ideas. It will offer guidance and consultancy services for business development. In essence, this directorate will teach our women and youths the art of starting and succeeding in business;
• Directorate of Small and Medium Enterprises – The directorate will provide a platform for accessing capital to promising business and commercial initiatives to establish small and medium scale ventures. It is envisaged that our Micro-Finance Bank shall play a crucial role in the realization of this objective.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am informed that the commencement of the Economic Empowerment Programme today, shall flag-off a series of skills sensitisation workshops for the unskilled, semi-skilled and unemployed youths in the State. Participants for the workshops shall comprise mainly of artisans, primary and secondary schools leavers and the physically challenged, whose creativity and productive potentials need to be harnessed and upgraded.

In order to ensure equitable participation across the State, sixty (60) youths have been selected from each of the Local Governments and Development Areas in the State, for the first phase of the workshops. To meet the Millennium Development Goals target for women empowerment, I have directed that 30% of the participants to these workshops should be women.

Ladies and gentlemen, to support the long term objectives of the youth empowerment component of the programme, Government has undertaken strategic interventions in the management and structure of existing Vocational and Relevant Technology Centres in Lafia, Doma, Wamba and Nasarawa. Already, contracts totaling Nine Hundred and Thirty-four Million Naira (N934,000,000.00) have been awarded for the necessary facilities and equipments to upgrade the centres to full-fledged Skills Acquisition institutions. Admission into the institutions will commence in the first quarter of 2009, with a total of One Thousand, Five Hundred (1,500) trainees.

Government has also approved the payment of stipends to all participants during the training. On successful completion of the training programme, participants will be assisted with take-off grants and would also be encouraged to access loans from our Micro-Finance Bank.

At this juncture, I would like to call on all and sundry, particularly parents, community leaders and Traditional rulers to support this initiative which is aimed at providing a window of opportunity for all those who may not secure Government employment. I assure you all that Government will continue to create conducive environment for our people to realize their full potentials and the overall objectives of this programme.

Permit me to use this opportunity to call on relevant institutions, agencies and development partners, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, the National Poverty Alleviation Programme (NAPEP), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, the National Directorate of Employment, the Millennium Development Goals office, as well as Non-Governmental Organisations, to partner with us in the implementation of this programme. I make this call on the strength of our collective desire to create employment, eliminate poverty and ensure social security in our society.

My dear women and youth of Nasarawa State, this programme is provided for you in particular, to realize your full potentials to be self-employed, to be self-reliant and to be masters of your own destiny. I have no doubt in my mind that this programme, if properly embraced by you, shall bring about accelerated socio-economic transformation of Nasarawa State. It is therefore my hope and prayers that you would take full advantage of this initiative to become dependable partners in our journey to the Promised Land.

Ladies and gentlemen, on this note, it is now my pleasure to launch the Nasarawa State Programme for Economic Empowerment and to declare the Skills Sensitisation Workshops open.

Thank you and God bless.