An appeal has been made to the Delta State Government to give adequate publicity to the call for application into its Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Training (STEP) and the Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP).
The appeal was made as more Deltans continued to react to the recent enrolment of 850 trainees for the 2019/2020 Programme Cycle of the state government’s STEP and YAGEP programmes.
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The Communication Officer with the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer, Mrs Gertrude Onyekachukwu-Uteh, compiled some of the mixed reactions expressed by the people over the just concluded enrolment as many of them claimed the call for application was not adequately publicized as it used to be.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a parent who visited the office on a fact finding mission stated he had followed with keen interest the achievements of Senator Ifeanyi Okowa through the Job Creation Scheme which he said has afforded many previously unemployed Delta youths the opportunity to become gainfully employed either in vocation skills/businesses or in agricultural enterprises.
He said the successes recorded by the young entrepreneurs across the three senatorial districts of the state has increased the demand for the programme as many youths now understand that one must not be engaged in a white collar job for legitimate means of livelihood.
While commending the state government for these achievements, he complained he has three unemployed graduates whom he had hoped would apply to be trained in the STEP and YAGEP programme in the 2019/2020 Programme Cycle, stressing that they missed the opportunity because the collection of forms was not publicized.
He appealed to the state government through the Office of the Chief Job Creation Programme to publicize the collection of application forms for the next cycle in order to avail more Delta youths the opportunity to key into the programme which has transformed the lives of many in the state.
In the same vein, Linda Okolosi, a beneficiary of the 2016/2017 Cycle in Catering and Confectionery, in a telephone chat expressed dissatisfaction over lack of publicity on the call for application, stressing that many youths were disenfranchised from the programme because the collection of forms was not made public.
She recalled that the process that brought her into the STEP programme three years ago was very transparent as the general public was duly notified to apply and to collect the forms from the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer or to apply online.
She however applauded the state government’s efforts at tackling youth unemployment through the job creation programmes, STEP and YAGEP. She pointed out that she has made remarkable progress as her own boss and an employer of labour.
Mudiaga Akpteta who reacted through the Facebook official handle of the Delta State Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer commented he had applied to be part of the programme many times, but was not successful.
He appealed that the call for application be made public online and through public announcements as it was in the past. He prayed for a free and fair application process in which all qualified Delta youths could benefit from the scheme irrespective of political affiliations.
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