By CHARLES IWUOHA

No fewer than 600 youths of Enugu State will be benefiting from the Youth ICT and Skill Acquisition Project (YISAP) of the Baywood Foundation.

Kicking-off the project on Monday in Udi near Enugu, Country Director of the foundation, Mr Chukwudi Ojielo, said that the training would involve 200 youths from a council area in each of the three senatorial zones.

Ojielo said that the Udi council area had been selected to represent the Enugu West senatorial zone; Igboeze North council area for Enugu North senatorial zone and Enugu East council area for Enugu East senatorial zone.

He said that at the end of the training, which would last for three months, a seed fund would be given to the best 100 youths among the 600.

The country director explained that those the seed fund of between N45,000 and N60,000 would be given to, would be those who performed exceptionally well in terms of attendance and learning capacity.

“Baywood Foundation is working in partnership with the Coca-Cola Foundation to train 600 youths selected from three council areas in the three senatorial zones of the state.

“Coca-Cola Foundation has provided us, the Baywood Foundation, with a grant to train the 600 youths, including the physically challenged, for three months on various empower skills that do not necessarily require a shop for a start.

“We would be training all of the youths on how to leverage on technology, the internet, as their mobile shop to get business patronage and get empowered.

“The trainees would be trained on barbing, make-up, household essentials, confectionaries, photography, photo and video making and editing; ICT and digital marketing design etc.

“However, each of the trainees must learn ICT and digital marketing design in order to use their mobile phones as their digital-mobile shops and skill promotion platforms without going to rent a physical shop,” he said.

On how the foundation selected 200 out of 675 that applied for the training in the Udi council area, Ojielo said that the criteria included; being resident in Udi council area; being between 18 and 35 years and having time for the training.

He, however, urged the trainees to take the skill acquisition seriously since for those selected; there were others not so lucky within the council area to benefit.

“The whole essence is to get empowered and help your family financially as well as teach others so that they can be empowered too,” he added.

Earlier, the Chairman of Udi council area, Chief Ifeanyi Agu, thanked the Baywood Foundation and the Coca-Cola Foundation for selecting the council area as one of the pilot council areas to kick-start the project.

Agu, who was represented by the Supervisor for Education and Youths, Mr Fred Ozo, urged the trainees to put in their best and take advantage of the opportunity provided at their door steps.

Baywood foundation had in January 2021 received a grant award of $98,925 from the Coca-Cola Foundation to empower 600 youths in Enugu state through Youth ICT and Skills Acquisition Project (YISAP).

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