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From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe state has on Monday flagged off the training of 500 youths under Gombe State Security, Traffic and Environmental Corps, (GoSTEC).
Governor Yahaya described GoSTEC which is a replacement of the Gombe Special Marshals that was initiated by former governor Dankwambo in Gombe, as a home-grown innovation that aimed at harnessing the potentials of youths in the state.
The erstwhile Special Marshals which were under Gombe State Agency for Social Services was established to tackle the menace of youth thuggery known as Yan Kalare was hailed as an effective youth development and empowerment program by Dankwambo.
However, the present administration in Gombe alleged that the vigilance group was used to perpetrated and unleashed evil in the state, “these youths were given sticks and other weapons to attack people,” Governor Yahaya said while speaking at the flag-off of induction of the GoSTEC personnel at the NYSC orientation camp in Gombe.
He Governor disclosed that the 500 trainees are the first batch of the 2,000 targeted youths and women for the program. He said, “GoSTEC was designed to mobilize youths across the 11 Local Government Areas of Gombe State with a view to giving them appropriate training that will enable them to shoulder the responsibility of enforcing the relevant traffic, security and environmental laws in close collaboration with the statutory security agencies so as to ensure a safe, secure and clean environment for all people of Gombe State in accordance with the dictates of the law”.
According to him, the induction marks the beginning of youth-friendly initiatives of his administration, as he assured that more people-oriented programs of his administration are on the queue.
Governor Inuwa urged the trainees to work hard, uphold all the knowledge, skills and experience they will get during the training for good practice and be good ambassadors of his administration.
On his part, Coordinator of the ARC-P in Gombe and Special Adviser to the Governor on Human Capital Development, Barrister Sani Ahmed Haruna, stated that the GoSTEC personnel are to serve as managers of vehicular, human and animal traffic in the state, while also supporting security agencies on securing the state where and when necessary.
He said, “The GoSTEC has been on since June and we have been working to modify what is already in existence to ensure that we improve and come up with a better option”.
While appreciating Governor Yahaya for supporting and providing the needed welfare packages for the trainees, the coordinator explained that 38 of the 500 trainees’ were females.
