By SALISU SANI-IDRIS

Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday inaugurated the Office of the Vice-President-Generation Unlimited (OVP-GenU) Secretariat.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the initiative is a UNICEF-led Public-Private-Youth Partnership programme designed to connect 20 million youths to education, skills, and livelihood opportunities by 2030.

At the inauguration, Shettima said the secretariat would accelerate the execution of the programme and deepen partnership across various agencies of government.

Represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Sen. Ibrahim Hadejia, he explained that the secretariat would enable the programme to align skills with the demands of community and industry.

This, according to him, will be achieved through a transparent process to make accessibility easy for all.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu, said that programme’s framework aligns with the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme (RHWDP).

Bagudu said that it would accelerate the implementation of the Federal Government’s programme aimed at stimulating local economies by targeting 8,809 electoral wards across the country.

The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, said that the vice-president’s vision has given strategic direction to the assignment of the secretariat.

She assured that the Federal Ministry of Education would endorse the GenU programme as a technical guide, particularly the skills census.

The minister noted that its output would be integrated into the ministry’s planning for vocational and skills training.

The UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Wafaa Abdelatef, stated that the hosting of the secretariat in the Office of the Vice-President was a demonstration of commitment by the Nigeria to the wellbeing of its youths.

She said Nigeria was demonstrating leadership in the continent, particularly in maximising the impact of all the accelerators for job creation.

She pledged UNICEF’s support for the GenU, particularly “in bringing in technical expertise in specific programmes”.

The Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation and MSME, Mr Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, outlined the potential of the programme to reverse the trend of unemployment among Nigeria’s youth.

He said that the programme would leverage existing platforms and initiatives being implemented by the Federal Government.

Adekunle-Johnson pledged to use the network of the Shared Hubs initiative of the National MSME Clinics to deepen skills acquisition across different sectors. (NAN)

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