Delta State Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan on Thursday hinged the future greatness of the country on youths that were prepared to be self-reliant and hardworking.
Uduaghan, speaking during the presentation of awards to 200 participants of the 3rd Award Ceremony of the Shell/Delta State Government Livewire programme, observed that any country with a crop of youths that are dependent on others would not make any progress in the 21st century.
The governor who spoke through his deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN) noted, “the future of our great nation and indeed, our state depends on youths who are hard working, painstaking, innovative and ready to be self-reliant.”
He reasoned that poverty alleviation programmes that do not provide the needed environment for the young ones to be engaged in viable business ventures would not go a long way in achieving their set targets.
According to him, the state government in confronting the scourge of unemployment and youth restiveness in the state has made it a matter of policy to continue to engage the youths in productive ventures to reduce the ugly trend and to secure their future.
Uduaghan lauded the Livewire Scheme, recalling, “The success story of this programme began in 2005 and in year 2006, the pioneering set had 120 recipients of the award. Their testimonies are encouraging.”
Addressing the awardees, the governor disclosed that the concept of the programme was motivated by the need to reach out to more people in the state and urged the recipients to work hard to be the best among all the award recipients so far.
The governor stated that his administration would continue to partner with the private sector for the overall sustainable development of the entire state.
Shell’s Government and Community Relations Manager, East, Mr. Funkakpo Fufeyin on his part informed that over 1000 Niger Delta youths have benefited from the programme since its inception.
