The Bank of Industry (BOI) implemented 27 projects worth N172 million aimed at empowering youth in Bauchi state in the past one year, Minister of State for Industries, Trade and Investment, Amb.Maryam Yalwaji-Katagum, said in Bauchi on Monday
Speaking during a Town Hall meeting on security matters, the minister said the projects, located in 11 Local Government Areas, were among 67 of such projects proposed for the state.
According to her, the projects are in the areas agro-processing,printing and solid minerals, among others, just as she listed the benefiting Local Government Areas as Katagum, Dass, Tafawa Balewa, Alkaleri, Toro, Kirfi, Ningi, Ganjuwa, Jama’are, Darazo and Misau.
She lauded the efforts of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), saying from 2018 to date, it engaged no fewer than 2, 242 persons in its various empowerment schemes.
The minister explained that the agency achieved the feat through Conditional Grant Scheme, free Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration, business insurance, photography, fashion and design and GSM repairs.
Yelwaji-Katagum explained that the Federal Government placed emphasis on acquisition of vocational skills and entrepreneurial development as vehicles of employment generation and poverty alleviation.
She said the plan of government to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years,had been on course, and would be pursued vigorously.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Gov. Bala Mohammed, Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, top government officials, civil society groups , politicians and traditional rulers, participated in the meeting. (NAN)
