By: Mukaila Danladi, Gombe
Youths in Gombe State selected for a six-day practical training on Solar Photovoltaic System Installation and Entrepreneurship package have been advised to be attentive throughout the training session.
The advice was given by the Managing Director/CEO of the North-East Development Commission (NEDC), Mohammed Goni Alkali during the opening ceremony of the training in Gombe.
Represented by Malam Ahmed Matori, Manager Humanitarian Department of the NEDC, Mohammed Alkali urged the participants to make use of the opportunity to given to them to be self-employed.
He said that, “I am appealing to you, not to sell the starter packs that will be given to you at the end of the training. Use it to make your lives and those of others better.”
The MD/CEO also said that the Commission was committed to all initiatives that could facilitate revitalisation and redevelopment of the region.
In his welcome address, Ag state Coordinator for Gombe State, Malam Rufai Baba-Manu said that the essence of the training was to help the participants become self-reliant and to end the problem of frequent power failure, considering the situation in the region.
Rufai Baba-manu expressed confidence in the resource persons while assuring participants that they would get the best out of the training.
He stressed that, “With the way things are going in the region and the country, the problem of frequent power failure will be a thing of the past because solar is the answer.”
The Ag Coordinator urged the participants to utilise the opportunity given to them stressing that, “Count yourselves lucky because you have been selected to be beneficiaries of the training.”
“You are expected to reciprocate the gesture by being punctual so that you will learn all the stages,” he said,
Rufai Baba-Manu said at the end of the training, each participant would receive a starter pack, and “the Commission has a team, saddled with the responsibility of monitoring you, to ensure you do what is necessary.”
According to him, the training is important looking at how the region has been badly affected by acts of insurgency, hence the essence of the training is to make the youths self-reliant and to bring an activity of entrepreneurship through solar.
Also speaking, Malam Abdullahi Ahmed, Commissioner, Ministry of Science and Technology, Gombe State commended NEDC for the training which he said would go a long way in engaging the youth to become gainfully employed.
He said that solar energy market is booming because everybody is turning to solar, ” Therefore you should count yourselves lucky for being considered to be part of the training.”
He also said that the fact that North- East has copious sunlight ,saying, “This is the place we can even move from the normal power generated by turbans to solar.”
