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From Jude Chinedu, Enugu Owerri
For 18-year-old to 30-year-old youths across the 44 communities of Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, the journey from unemployment to self-reliance received a major boost on Sunday, October 4, 2026.
On that day, 267 young men and women stepped forward to receive certificates after six months of intensive training in various vocational, agricultural, digital, technical, and entrepreneurial skills.
But it was more than a graduation ceremony. For many of the beneficiaries, it was the beginning of a journey towards economic independence.
The training was organised by the Ezeagu in Diaspora International Association (EDIA), under its N100 million youth empowerment initiative, conceived to tackle unemployment and promote self-reliance among young people in the rural communities.
Held at New Haven Primary School, Enugu, the ceremony also witnessed the raising of N16 million in startup funds to support the beneficiaries as they begin putting their newly acquired skills to work.
The President of EDIA, Chief Johnmary Anagolu, said the initiative was conceived as a long-term intervention to complement government efforts in youth development, poverty reduction and human capital development.
The programme was formally flagged off on September 27, 2025, at the International Conference Centre, Enugu, by Governor Peter Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia.
Anagolu said the response to the programme demonstrated the hunger among young people for opportunities to acquire skills and become self-reliant.
More than 1,200 youths registered within 48 hours of the announcement, with the first batch of 500 applicants selected based on their preferred areas of training and equitable representation of communities across Ezeagu.
Of the 500 selected, 267 successfully completed the programme, passed their examinations and practical assessments and were certified by their respective training vendors.
The beneficiaries were trained in areas including catering, fashion and design, bakery, information and communication technology (ICT), solar power installation, security camera installation, painting, modern agriculture, shoe and bag making, make-up, barbing, content creation and health awareness.
For Anagolu, the essence of the programme goes beyond certificates.
“In a country where unemployment is a threat, training of this nature provides young people with the opportunity to grow and become responsible citizens because a busy youth is a peaceful nation,” he said.
He disclosed that each graduating beneficiary would receive a startup package to enable them to put their skills into practice, while N16 million was raised at the ceremony to further support them.
He challenged the graduates to see the empowerment as the beginning of a new chapter, urging them to build sustainable businesses and eventually create opportunities for others.
“Our expectation is that one year from now, all the trainees would not just be self-reliant but also contribute to job creation by employing and training more people, because to whom much is given, much is expected,” he said.
For Chidubem Samuel from Ihuonyia Village in Amansiodo Oghe community, the programme began with doubt.
He initially thought the announcement was another political promise that might never materialise.
But his doubts disappeared when he was assigned to a training vendor and began receiving practical lessons in website design and hosting.
“Honestly, I thought they were doing politics when they made the announcement. But when they assigned me to a vendor, a designer, in whose facility I learned how to create a website and do all these skills, I was so happy,” he said.
Now, Samuel has a different ambition.
He wants to turn his new skill into a successful career and eventually help more young people benefit from similar opportunities.
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“I want to first become successful so that my success will be their glory. Then I hope to be part of the group to help them achieve their vision of empowering more youths in Ezeagu,” he said.
His story captures the wider expectation surrounding the programme: that the beneficiaries should not remain mere recipients of assistance but become producers, employers and trainers of others..
For EDIA, the youth empowerment programme is only one part of a wider intervention in Ezeagu.
Anagolu said the association had also been involved in education, security, agriculture, infrastructure, poverty alleviation and other areas of social development.
In the area of security, he said EDIA had supported the local government with buses, motorcycles, walkie-talkies, security torches and drones for aerial surveillance.
The association had also facilitated security meetings involving traditional rulers, community leaders, vigilantes and conventional security agencies.
In education, the association paid examination fees for 30 Ezeagu indigenes sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations after their families were unable to meet the financial obligations.
Anagolu said EDIA was encouraging young people to embrace modern and mechanised agriculture, particularly through the revitalisation of the Sunghai Agro Industry project in partnership with Tribu Ltd and the Enugu State Government.
He said the project had the potential to create thousands of jobs.
“We are encouraging our youths to venture into agriculture. We have concluded plans with our foreign partners to send some applicants to Brazil to learn modern agriculture,” he said.
‘We cannot leave everything for government’
The chairman of the occasion and Chief Executive Officer of Tribu Company Limited, Chief Nnamdi Silas Ozor, said the fight against poverty must go beyond government intervention.
He urged the beneficiaries to take their newly acquired skills seriously, particularly in agriculture and craftsmanship.
Ozor, who described agriculture as one of the major opportunities for Nigeria’s future, said productive citizens could help reduce some of the problems confronting the country.
“If a man is busy producing and developing, if a man or a woman is busy doing meaningful things to society, most of the problems we have today will be reduced. We cannot leave everything for the government to do,” he said.
He cited countries such as China as examples of nations that transformed their economies by developing the skills and productive capacities of their people.
“Do not think that what you are doing today is a little thing. What you are doing today can propel not only you, but your family, towards the future,” Ozor told the beneficiaries.
The traditional institution also applauded the intervention.
Igwe Harford Agada commended EDIA for its contributions to the security architecture of Ezeagu, saying its interventions had benefited communities across the local government.
He expressed the hope that the youth empowerment programme would grow into a larger initiative capable of reaching many more young people.
The Chairman of the Ezeagu Council of Traditional Rulers, Igwe Emmanuel Anichebe, also commended the organisers for investing directly in the people, particularly the younger generation.
The N100 million EDIA initiative comes at a time when youth unemployment remains a major concern and governments and communities continue to search for practical ways of moving young people from dependency to productive enterprise.
