Jonathan To Inaugurate Platform For Youth Empowerment

The Special Adviser to the President on Youth Empowerment, Ambassador Obi Adim, says President Goodluck Jonathan would inaugurate the Mentorship Platform of the Integrated Youth Economic Empowerment Programme (IYEEP).
IYEEP is an experiential entrepreneurial and community service programme introduced by the office of the Special Adviser on Youth Empowerment.
It is to create a youth development solution meant to improve the quality of life of youths across the country.
Adim, who made this known to newsmen in Abuja last Sunday, said the platform would be inaugurated at the Banquet hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, between May 27 and May 29.
He said at least 22,000 youths across the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), would be trained under the IYEEP.
According to him, all the prospective beneficiaries will be put into the mentorship platform to monitor their progress in the programme.
He said that the IYEEP’s mentorship process would go a long way in addressing youth restiveness in the country.
“We have integrated various components of programmes to create a youth development solution.
“For instance, all the people that are going to start up this programme are going to be put into a mentorship platform.
“We’ve partnered different groups in the world. We will be launching the mentorship platform.
“We are going to use the mentorship platform to monitor the process of the development of our youths that are going to benefit from this programme.”
He said that already, his office and Kaduna State Government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the commencement of the pilot scheme of the IYEEP.
According to him, 601 youths from the state will be trained.
He said himself and the Kaduna State Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Alhaji Bashir Zubairu, signed the MoU on behalf of the two parties.
Adim said that the beneficiaries of the programme in Kaduna State would be trained within three months to enable them start their own businesses.
He disclosed that the programme, which would be closely monitored through the mentorship platform, would be financed through micro-finance institutions in the states.
He said already, his office had entered into partnership with the California State University, Chico, for ‘Train-the-Trainer’ workshop for all the prospective beneficiaries of the IYEEP across the country.
He said that the Institute of Enoch, Alaska, would also conduct the leadership training for the youths aimed of imparting them with positive ideas for the progress of the country.
Adim said IYEEP was part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation programme aimed at providing employment opportunities to youths across the country irrespective of their geo-political affiliations.