The Rivers Commissioner of Information and Communication, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari has re-affirmed the state government’s commitment to training and re-training of youths of the state.

Mrs. Semenitari said this when a seven-member group from the National Directorate of Employment led by Chief Napoleon Amachree paid her a courtesy visit in the Ministry.

She stated clearly that the Amaechi-led administration stood tall in the welfare of her citizens, adding that government had achieved about a 150 per cent in training, taken the youth off the streets and indeed total empowerment of the Rivers people.

She however, commended Chief Amachree’s sincere concern for the welfare of the youths, and assured them that government was doing everything possible to empower the Rivers man. She regretted that the pace of work on the programme had been on a slow pace because of the loss of the commissioner who was in charge of Youth Empowerment in the State.

In his address, the leader of the group, Chief Napoleon Amachree stated that the mandate of the Directorate was to train youths in the state. He said that four main areas were mapped out for the training, out of which much had been achieved in vocational skill development.

He explained that 69 youths were settled recently after an intensive training on different vocational skills, while the Rural Empowerment Programme had 120 Rivers youths undergoing training at Omuma.

Amachree stated that the purpose of the visit was to bridge the gap between the Federal and State Government on youth employment/empowerment as well as build a working relationship between them.

He said that youth-related problems in the state could only be addressed when a working and cordial relationship was established between the two levels of government.

He however, appealed to the state government to work out a system that would ensure the training of youths, adding that the structure for such training was on ground, but the resources for settling the trainee were lacking.