The Federal Government on Monday officially launched a dedicated portal for enlistment of youth in the ongoing distribution of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered tricycles for the informal youth.

Minister of State for Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, who inaugurated the portal in Abuja, said this followed the hugely successful launch of the 2,000 CNG Tricycles for the informal youth, which took place on 1st October, 2024.

He explained that the Ministry has designed the Youth Portal specifically intended to create opportunities for a greater number of youth to participate in the process. He urged youth with interest in the sector and palliative programme of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sign up to initiative via Www.youthcng.ng or www.pci.gov.ng/tricycle.

He said through the portal, youths anywhere from across Nigeria could sign up to be merged with aggregators or owners who work directly with the Presidential CNG Initiative (PICNG) Programme, while beginning the process of becoming owners themselves.

The Minister noted that the mandate of the Ministry of Youth in respect of the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is to reduce unemployment in Nigeria by equipping young people with skills and empowerment to be self-reliant and employers of labour.

?In simple terms, what we aim to achieve with the youth portal we are about to launch is to build transparency around the process of enlisting youth into the Presidential CNG Initiative in the transportation sector.

?What this means is that we are opening the process, and any young person willing and ready to take advantage of the programme can participate,? he stated.

Olawande emphasized that this was consistent with the aspiration of President Bole Ahmed Tinubu, who desires that all government programmes and initiatives of government offer the same level of opportunity to everyone either rich or poor, low or high.

?Like I have always said, no young person in this country would need to know any godfather to benefit from the programmes of the Ministry of Youth Development. The youth portal we are launching today again reconfirm that promise of ensuring equal access to all our initiatives and programmes

?I, therefore, use this opportunity to call on all youth who work within the commercial transportation sector, or those who have interest in joining the sector to enlist for the benefits provided through the Presidential Initiative on CNG as a significant component of the palliative programme of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,? he said.

National President of National Commercial Tricycle & Motorcycle Owners & Riders Association (NACTOMORAS), Sani Hassan, in his remark, commended the Federal Government for the initiative while assuring the Minister of the readiness of his Association to support the Ministry of Youth Development towards success of the programme.

He pledged to mobilise members of NACTOMORAS across the country to fully subscribe for the programme in order to benefit from the Presidential palliative in the transport sector.

Hassan pledged the commitment of the Association to ensure prompt repayment, saying he was aware that the CNG-powered tricycles were not being distributed for free. (Nigerian Tribune)

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