By CHIEDU UCHE OKOYE

Obosi Innovative Skills and Empowerment Programme (OBISEP) is Obosi town?s response to the burgeoning number of unemployed people in Nigeria. It is a measure which is being executed to reduce the number of unemployed people in Nigeria and empower them in order for them to contribute their quota for our country?s economic growth and sustainability.

Youth unemployment is a global problem. And it is one of the problems bedeviling Nigeria, now. Are millions of young and employable Nigerians not pounding the pavement on a daily basis in search of the non-existent white and blue collar jobs? The answer to this question is a categorical yes.

And one of the consequences of unemployment in Nigeria is the exponential increase in crime rate in our country. We all know that there is a nexus between unemployment and youths? perpetration of criminal activities. An adage says this: the devil will find work for an idle hand. There are pieces of incontrovertible evidence to prove the fact that Idlers are being recruited into criminal gangs, secessionist groups, terrorist groups, and others.

In order to tackle the matter, the Obosi Development Union (ODU) Committee on Skills Acquisition and Empowerment birthed the Obosi Innovative Skills and Empowerment Programme (OBISEP). It is tagged Obosi 1 Household 2 Skills Project; and it is an adaptation of the Anambra state 1 Youth 2 Skills Programme. And the aim of OBISEP is to train unemployed young people in trades and vocations, which will enable them to become self-employed.

Regarding OBISEP, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, commended the people of Obosi for adapting the Anambra state?s 1 Youth 2 Skills Project to Obosi 1 Household 2 Skills Project on the platform of Obosi Innovative Skills and Empowerment Programme (OBISEP) so as to equip unemployed, indigent, and vulnerable people in Obosi kingdom with innovative skills, which would enable them to become self-employed people and employers of labour.

Dr. Mefor commended the Obosi people for birthing OBISEP when he interacted with journalists, who work at the Anambra State 1 Youth 2 Skills TV in Awka, recently.

He promised that he would work closely with relevant ministries to disseminate information about the Obosi town?s model of skills acquisition and empowerment programme nicknamed OBISEP to people in other towns. And he said that he would direct them to emulate the Obosi 1 Household 2 Skills initiative and example.

OBISEP, which is tagged Obosi 1 Household 2 Skills Project, is headed by Nze Chisom Tim Onugha. It is designed to train unemployed youths and indigent persons in diverse trades and vocations through Modern Apprenticeship Model (MAM) so as to enable them to become self-employed people and employers of Labour when they complete their apprenticeships training.

Happily, the graduation ceremony of the OBISEP Scheme took place on December 7, 2024 at Obosi town hall. And out of the 700 people who enrolled for the apprenticeship training in diverse areas, 300 people graduated, as they passed all the tests given to them. Thousands of people thronged Obosi town hall on that day to witness the event.

The graduands took their turns to display their beautiful products and services at their exhibition stands to the admiration of guests, who graced the occasion.

Among those who attended the event were RTD Major General C.N. Maduegbuna, chairman of the event; Igwe Chidubem Iweka, the traditional ruler of Obosi; Gov. Soludo, who was represented by the Commissioner for Youth, Hon Patrick Agha Mba; the State Manager of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Engr. Chito Onuzulike; the President General of Obosi Development Union, Barr. Chimezie Obi; Chief Host, Chief Onyeka Oguegbu; Barr. Emeka Uyamadu; Nze, Chisom T. Onugha, event converner; Nze Anthony Amaifobu, SA to Gov. Soludo; Comrade Amala Egbuonye, Secretary, ODU; and other distinguished guests.

More so, the Anambra State Commissioner for Youth Development, Patrick Agha Mba, who was impressed with the graduands? display of their products and demonstration of their skills, offered to become a member of the ODU Committee on Skills Acquisition And Empowerment. He further promised to draft the OBISEP trainers Into the Anambra State I Youth 2 Skills Team

And the master-mind of the OBISEP, Nze Chisom Tim Onugha, who doubles as the Chairman of the Obosi Development Union(ODU) Committee on Skills Acquisition, Empowerment and Palliatives, promised that the second edition of OBISEP would be a vast improvement on the maiden edition, while calling on indigent and unemployed young people in Obosi to enroll in the on-going OBISEP programme.

He solicited for adequate funding and technical/logistics support from the Anambra state governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, Key federal government ministries/agencies, private institutions, and philanthropists. Their support, he quipped, would lead to the sustenance of the OBISEP scheme, which would commence its second edition, soon.

?Okoye is an officer of the Anambra State Ministry of Information.