Mr Charles Nworji, Director, Anambra National Orientation Agency (NOA), has called on well-meaning organisations in the country to partner government on youth development.
Nworji made the call when he received a delegation of a Non-Political Orgsinsation, known as Mmaigbo Empowerment Foundation, which paid him a courtesy call in Awka on Friday.
He said he was elated with the visit because the mandates of the group were in tandem with that of NOA’s working schedules.
He praised the leadership of the foundation for not only promoting Igbo language and culture, but also its involvement in economic development of the Igbo nation.
The NOA boss noted that the foundation is not only proffering solutions to challenges facing the Igbos as a people, but also providing solutions to them through their entrepreneurial training of the Igbo youths.
He said that the group’s involvement in youth development was designed with the sole aim to dissuade youths from engaging in drug abuse and other vices in the society.
Nworji stated that the group might have drawn its inspiration from the entrepreneurial spirits of the Igbo race, known as ‘Igba boyi’ (apprenticeship).
He advised the organisation to partner with government structure so that its work towards youth development would be well rooted.
“If you engage government structure through partnership, the vision and mission of your association would gain more laudable results and the people will benefit more from your activities,” he said.
Earlier, the Director, Planning and Strategy of the foundation, who led the delegation, Mr. Nganwuchu Chika, said that the foundation had engaged some youths for 14 days in the area of re-orientation in rights social attitude.
Chika said that the workshop also trained the youths in areas of spiritual, physical aspects of lives and some skills to enable them to be self reliant.
He said that the youths were trained on the need to participate in social, economics and political development of the nation in place of idling away.
He disclosed that the organisation has concluded arrangements to empower the trainees by providing them with working equipment on June 25.
He equally said that the foundation is also working round the clock to ascertain how much it would cost to secure shops for the beneficiaries,
Chika said that they are re-circling the trainees so that they would in turn train others with a view to providing jobs to the teeming unemployed Igbo youths.
He emphasised that the foundation intends to empower were every Igbo-speaking youth to make them become more self reliant.
Also speaking, the Director of Language and Communication of the group, Mrs Nkechi Okoye, said that the beauty of the Igbo race was their hard-working nature.
Okoye said that more efforts need to be tapped to ensure that youths are introduced to various activities that would boost the economic and social development of the state.
Mr Kenneth Umeh, Secretary of the organisation, affirmed that the beauty of the Igbo nation was their industrious nature anywhere they found themselves.
Umeh pointed out that the programmes thrust of the foundation is anchored on what they describe as development communication through the grassroots sensitisation programmes.
He said that the organisation wishes to wage a total war against the get-rich-quick-syndrome spirit currently bedeviling Igbo youths.
Umeh said that the tendency to get rich at all costs amongst Nigerian youths was a worrisome act that needs total war.
(NAN)
