Kaduna Refinery Empowers 405 Youths

As part of its corporate social responsibility, the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) has offered skills training to 405 youths, who were trained under the company youth empowerment and skills acquisition programme which started in 2008.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr. Bolanle Ayodele, said at the presentation of certificates to 105 participants of the 2012 programme, that the company had set up a grant with a micro finance bank in Kaduna to be accessed by any of the graduands to establish their own business.
Ayodele explained that the partnership with the bank was due to the low success rate recorded in assisting those who graduated earlier, and expressed appreciation to the host communities for providing harmoning and peaceful environment for them to operate.
The participants acquired skills in 10 trades, including construction, poultry and fisheries.
Kaduna State Gvoernor, Mukhtar Yero, in his speech commended the KRPC for its support in addressing the unemployment challenges in the state, and pledged to tap from its experience in the implementation of similar programme by the state government.
According to him, the state government will create 6,000 new jobs this year by training and empowering 150 men and women in each of the 23 local government areas of the state.
He also advised the graduands to apply their new skills to enhance their economic and social status.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, described the scheme as an instrument of attitudinal change for the youths.
Yakubu said in a message that apart from tackling unemployment, the initiative would also address security challenges.