As part of government’s effort at tackling unemployment and underemployment, over 130 youths from the eastern part of Nigeria have acquired entrepreneurial skills in fish farming, production and aqua-shop management.
Those who benefited from the collaborative training and start-up tools empowerment programme of the federal government and MUNAMAJ Solutions Limited, a consulting firm, included able bodied and persons living with special needs, both men and women.
The head of monitoring and evaluation, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD), Mr. Felix Obisike, performed the presentation during a 10-day capacity training programme held at Aba, Abia State.
Obisike, who presented certificates and tools, which include reinforced trampoline, water tank, water hose, weighing scale, n bath, fingerlings, fish feed, juveniles, scooping nets, and TDS meter to the graduating trainees, described the training as imperative towards achieving youth empowerment and food security in the country.
While saying the training and the tools would create employment for the beneficiaries as well as make them employers of labour, he advised beneficiaries against diversion of the fishery kits distributed to them but to engage in fishery
“Fish farming is a lucrative trade, especially in this part of the country. You raise, harvest and supply fish to the market at good price.
“I urge the beneficiaries to utilise the opportunity given to them by the federal government. It will not only reduce poverty in the country but also reduce the rate of unemployment and underemployment among able youths and Special Needs persons,” Obisike added.
In his remarks, the chairman of MUNAMAJ Solutions Limited, Hon. Ufuoma Johngold, reiterated that the world has gone beyond seeking white-collar jobs, and noted that the need to acquire skills for self-sustenance became imperative.
Johngold, who was represented by the center manager, Mr. Chukwuemeka Kalu Dike, expressed gratitude to FMHADMSD for availing the citizens an opportunity to learn new skills and vocations through the N-SKILL program