Benue State Governor Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia has identified unemployment as one of the major challenges currently confronting the state.

Governor Alia disclosed this while speaking at the Implementation Support Mission Meeting of the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS), held in Makurdi, the state capital.

He blamed the high rate of unemployment in the state partly on the nature and scope of educational curriculum which fails to address the needs of students in a world outside the school system.

Fr Alia said without the skills and talent to be self-employed, the youth can easily fall prey to the temptations and vices that surround them, adding that instead of being useful assets to our development efforts, many young men and women have become clogs in the society’s wheel of progress.

He appreciated the World Bank and the Federal Ministry of Education for providing the window for Benue Children from the selected technical colleges in the state to acquire hands-on skills training saying it is commendable and timely.

He stressed that as a government, they recognized that re-engineering the skills development ecosystem is essential to meeting critical market needs and the need to prepare the youth for today’s and even tomorrow’s digital economy labour requirements.

The Governor thanked the World Bank and Project Management Unit for selecting and giving Benue State the hosting right for the Implementation Support Mission Meeting promising to give the necessary support that would be required of his administration.

Earlier in their separate remarks, the State Project Coordinator, Samuel Wende, and the World Bank Team, led by Dr Dilip Parajuli underscored the importance of Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills and thanked the Government and people of Benue State for providing a conducive environment for them and also according to them a warm reception.

They promised to strongly collaborate and partner with the government of Benue State to guarantee innovation and effective skills acquisition for Benue children. (Daily Sun)

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