Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has disclosed plans for a youth engagement/appreciation rally on Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at the Uyo Township Stadium, to flag -off a special engagement and empowerment programme for 5000 youths in the State.
Governor Eno gave the hint while speaking at the September edition of the State Government Monthly Covenant Prayer Service at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Uyo.
The Governor said the rally, with its accompanying engagement and empowerment packages will be in fulfilment of his promise to reciprocate the honour done him and the leadership of the State by the youths in heeding to his admonition to distant themselves from the recent nationwide protest, due to the risk of being hijacked by some bad elements.
According to him, modalities for implementation of the programme will be outlined during the rally and names of beneficiaries from each LGA will be published for verification.
He explained that the youths to partake in the rally will be selected from the 31 LGAs as representatives, adding that SMEs selected for the programme have also been confirmed to be genuine and verifiable.
“We are going to have a rally to engage and empower our youths. That rally will be on Tuesday, 10th of September at the Uyo township Stadium. We are bringing 200 youths from each of our 31 local government areas. They are just representatives of their local government areas. On that day, we will also be able to explain how we want to support 5000 youths in our state immediately.
“We will also empower Small and Medium Enterprises from across the State. This empowerment will be a bit different from the ones we normally do. We have already finished our selection and we have 2000 of them, so don’t bother faking anything. We know these people, we have been to their shops, we have done a need assessment and we know what they want. We will publish their names and local government areas so that anyone can verify.
We believe if we support these SMEs, they will help facilitate socio- economic growth in our state. That is my idea of empowerment,” Governor Eno Stated.
The Governor, also announced the readiness of the State Government to commence distribution of food items directly to the less -privileged devoid of agents as middlemen.
He decried the inability of some agents to stick to the terms of engagement in the bulk purchase programme, adding that this new phase of distribution will be done directly through the Bulk Purchase Agency.
The Akwa Ibom State Chief Executive used the occasion to explain further the approval given at the last EXCO meeting for the purchase of two Bombardier 900 CRJ aircrafts to boost Ibom Air’s fleet . He stated that the decision was a step in the right direction, adding that the State will gain in the long run.
“We want to buy the aircrafts outrightly ourselves without taking any bank facility so Ibom Air may continue to grow and pay dividends to the State Government.
“I can promise you. We will buy the two aircraft as a State. It will be our asset from day one. Let the interest now become dividends to the State. I think that makes great business sense,” Governor Eno, stated.
On the forthcoming local government elections, the Governor and leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State, announced that the party will flag -off campaigns on Thursday, September 12, urging all party flag bearers and stakeholders to intensify efforts to gain the confidence of the electorate to enable PDP win all 31 LGAs.
He however, reaffirmed his resolve to ensure fair and credible polls for all saying, “We are doing elections in the 31 LGAs, and we would win in all if we do our work properly.”
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