Benue State Governor, Rev Fr. Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia has ticked unemployment as one of the major challenges currently confronting Benue State.
Governor Alia made this known recently, while making a speech at the Implementation Support Mission meeting of the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) held at Benue Hotels Makurdi.
He blamed the high rate of unemployment in the state partly on the nature and scope of education curriculum which fails to address the needs of students in a world outside the school system.
Fr. Alia said without skills and talent to be self employed, the youth can easily fall prey to the temptations and vices that surround them. He added that instead of being useful assets to our development efforts, many young men and women have become clogs in the society’s wheel of progress.
Governor Hyacinth Alia appreciated the World Bank and the Federal Ministry of Education for providing the window for Benue children from the selected technical colleges in the state to acquire hands-on skills training that is commendable and timely.
He stressed that as a government, they recognised that re-engineering skills development ecosystem is essential to meeting critical market needs and the need to prepare the youth for today and even tomorrow digital economy labour requirements.
The Governor thanked the World Bank and Project Management Unit for selecting and giving Benue State the hosting right for the Implementation Support Mission meeting.
Earlier in their separate remarks, the State Project Coordinator, Samuel Wende and the World Bank team led by Dr. Dilip Parajuli underscored the importance of Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills. They thanked government and people of Benue State for providing a conducive environment for them.
