Okrika Women Task RSG On Manpower Development

Women from Okrika Local Government Area under the aegis of Okrika Women Assembly have called on the Rivers State Government to give prominence to manpower development in the area. The women speaking at the first Okrika Women Assembly held at Okrika Town on Wednesday decried the poor manpower and educational amenities in the local government area. Speaking on behalf of the Okrika women at the forum, Mrs. Diana Gbasibo said most of the youths are yet to be unemployed because of poor educational and skills qualification. The only way, she noted that government can transform the area is to site more educational projects and skill acquisition centres to equip their children for future prospects. Mrs. Gbasibo lauded the wife of the state governor, Dame Judith Amaechi for initiating the Economic Support Initiative (ESI), which according to her has established a nursery school for their children. Similarly, the same view was expressed by representative of Okrika Christian Women Group, Mrs. Asimi Abaku, who called for the establishment of a Skill Acquisition Centre in the area. She was of the view that the skills centre would address the labour imbalance, noting that a lot of their youths cannot compete with those at the city because of poor trade skills. Mrs. Abaku also stressed the need for more scholarship awards to enable the youths acquire knowledge to fit in the labour market. The women leader pledged the support of Christian women to the programmes and activities of the Rivers State Government, while assuring the governor’s wife that more attention would be given in the proper upbringing of their children. Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs Barrister Immauela George-Izunwa has lauded women in Rivers State for their massive participation in the ongoing voter’s registration exercise. Mary Chindah