The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, has reaffirmed his readiness to initiate and implement youth-focused policies if elected governor of the state in next year’s election.
Speaking during the grand finale of the Federal Government’s youth empowerment programme held in Ibadan on Friday, Alli restated his plan to resuscitate and adequately equip all technical and vocational colleges across the state.
He said his regime would encourage young people to acquire skills and make the right choices to prepare themselves for the future.
“I will ensure that they are well engaged in skills acquisition to prepare them adequately for their future. Not everyone would get government jobs.
“If they are not able to get government jobs, the skills they acquire from vocational institutes would be sufficient to make them self-reliant and be useful to society,” he said.
Powered by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education (OSSAP-TVEE), the 10-day event was an intensive National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS) training and empowerment scheme.
A total of 700 youths in Oyo State were trained in different skills and equipped with tools to enable them to practise their newly acquired trades.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on TVEE, Dr Abiola Arogundade, described the scheme as part of President Bola Tinubu’s National Poverty Reduction Reboot Strategy, which she said would be replicated across the six geopolitical zones.
She said the programme was aimed at providing beneficiaries with sustainable capacity building for economic self-reliance.
“What we want to do, and what the President wants to do, is to move as many people out of poverty as possible,” Arogundade stated.
“Mr President believes that our young people do not simply need assistance. They need opportunity. They need skills. They need the tools to compete and build sustainable livelihoods. And that is what today represents.”
