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Christine Onwuachumba
Over 150 graduands of the Youths Employment and Social Support Orientation (YESSO) programme who recently concluded a three-month skills acquisition programme in Gregory University Uturu (GUU) have been offered different tuition-free scholarships, internships, and employment opportunities.
The Chancellor of Gregory University Uturu, Chief Gregory Ibe announced this during the closing ceremony of the programme. Speaking during the colourful event, Chief Ibe appreciated the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), for mobilising about 1,150 youths from six Local Government Councils of Abia State to participate in the training programme, and particularly paid glowing tributes to the World Bank for providing funds for the exercise.
Said he: “I want to specially commend the National Directorate of Employment, who through her Abia State office organised this programme by mobilising about 1,150 youths from six local government councils of our state. I must not fail to congratulate our young participants for their diligence and hard work in following through with the rigorous demands of this training workshop. I am confident they have been equipped with skills that can make them function as job creators and no longer as job seekers. Let me also commend the World Bank, for providing funding that facilitated the camping, feeding and training of participants these past months”.
Giving a further breakdown of the chancellor’s awards, the Vice-Chancellor of GUU, Prof Augustine Uwakwe, stated that the package includes the offer of tuition-free scholarships to 48 participants to study programmes in Agriculture, Insurance and Humanities in GUU.
In his words, “Beyond the 48 YESSO programme participants, who are to enjoy scholarships, the chancellor in his magnanimity has also extended the award to other Abia youths who didn’t have the opportunity of undergoing this training exercise. He has, therefore, asked me to announce the offer of additional scholarships to 44 youths from the remaining 11 local government councils that didn’t participate in the YESSO training workshop, at the ratio of 4 youths per LGA.
This brings the total number of youths offered scholarship by the chancellor to 90, while an additional number of over 60 people from the different skills groups will be retained in our different enterprise centres for their internship programme”.
Speaking earlier, the Abia State Coordinator of NDE, Lady Chi Uzoatuegwu appreciated both Gregory University Uturu and the World Bank for their partnership, pledging the preparedness of her agency to build on the benefits of the collaboration.
