Lalong empowers more persons ,vows to banish poverty
19th December 2018
By Golok Nanmwa ,Jos
Plateau state Governor Simon Lalong on Wednesday empowered thousands more persons in Jos stressing that his administration is determined to better the lives of the downtrodden in the state
Speaking at the inauguration of the third phase of the Simon Lalong empowerment scheme (SLEMS 3) in Jos ,the Governor said "This program is very dear to my heart because of its ability to banish poverty among the women and youth. "This is also in tandem with the Chinese saying that you “give a man fish and you feed him for one day, but teach him how to fish and you will feed him for life.”"
He said "You will recall that on my assumption of office about three and half years ago, I promised to ensure that women and youth empowerment and employment would be given topmost priority in order to reduce and subsequently banish poverty in the state in line with the cardinal policy thrusts of my administration. I am happy to say that I have not let down the people in this regard."
" In order to lay the foundation for the achievement of this much cherished goal and objective, I immediately established the Plateau State Micro Finance, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency, PLASMEDA via an Executive Bill that was promptly passed by the state legislature. The Agency is saddled with the responsibility to enhance the entrepreneurial capacity of existing MSMEs, so as to expose the women and youths to the rudiments of business start-up through Vocational and Skill Acquisition programmes. "
" This giant initiative has given birth to the Youth and Women Empowerment Programme, among others, following which its slogan, the “Simon Lalong Empowerment Scheme” (SLEMS) was launched on the 9th of March, 2017, in order to attain the afore-mentioned goals and objectives."
" To achieve this noble objective, the SLEMS programme was structured into phases. Under the first phase, over two hundred inputs were donated to the best three graduating participants across the various skills in all 17 Local Government Areas. Altogether, over 3,000 participants were captured. "
" The skills set included Fashion Design, Leather Works, Hair Dressing, Computer, Weaving, and Catering Services. The participants included People Living with Disability (PLWD), Women and Youths. The components of the training included Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy and Skill Acquisition."
" Under Phase Two, on July 13, 2017, the Agency commenced the entrepreneurship development training programme for People Living with Disability and Youths. Over 3,400 participants were captured in the SLEMS 2 program. Similarly, another set of 200 youths were captured and trained under the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP)."
" This was done in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF). The beneficiaries of this initiative are gathered here today and they will be receiving their starter packs. In Phase Three, four thousand five hundred youths will participate in different programs. While some existing MSMEs will receive grants, some will undergo the various skills acquisition training and will be given starter packs at the completion of their training."
"The SLEMS initiative has, indeed, continued to impact positively on the lives of more and more youths and women. For instance, over 2,000 market women and traders were engaged in the Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme (GEEP)."
" This enabled them to access micro credits for their businesses. Another batch of 100 market women and traders were also captured and got access to the Bleneson Micro-Credit Facility. In the not-too-distant future, an additional 2,000 people will benefit from the same facility."
He also said " I am also pleased to announce that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has in collaboration with PLASMEDA, mobilized over 1,000 Agric Businesses and SMEs in the state to benefit from the CBN’s Agric, Small and Medium Enterprise Scheme (AGSMEIS) loan facility. The CBN has also in collaboration with PLASMEDA through its Entrepreneurship Development Center, EDC, trained over 700 youths with a view to enhancing and developing their hands-on skills and capacity."
" PLASMEDA has also trained more than 30 youths under its collaborative program with GIZ through the SME Start-up Loop. The MSME clinic, which was organized in collaboration with the Office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, exposed our SMEs to a lot of market opportunities."
" I am proud to announce that a Plateau State SME was recognized and awarded the overall best in the country this year. This was made possible through the immense support and encouragement of PLASMEDA, which culminated in such a giant leap to national recognition. "
" In appreciation of the exploits of Bennie Ventures, the SME which did the state proud during the awards this year, I directed that a house be built by the state government for its owner, Jerry Mallo, while a new car be bought for his father. This gesture is done with a view to encouraging other young entrepreneurs to soar like the eagle and strive for the best with the sky
"let me reiterate my advice to the youths in the state that they should regard the entrepreneurial spirit of Mallo as a challenge to them and borrow a leaf from his exploits. They should also shun vices like serving as political thugs to politicians, taking illicit drugs, kidnapping and other forms of violent crime that would ultimately lead them to self-destruction."
" Let me also admonish the youths to embrace skills acquisition programmes wherever such opportunities come their way. Skills acquisition is a potent weapon to fight the scourge of grinding poverty and unemployment bedeviling the country today. I want to also reiterate that the Rescue Administration, in line with one of its cardinal policy thrusts, will continue to pursue with vigour its policy of youths and women empowerment through skills acquisition. The era of relying on white collar jobs is over, because the current global trend is that self-employment has pushed white-collar jobs to the background and we cannot afford to be left behind."
" This explains why skills acquisition schemes have been introduced in secondary schools and even during the National Youth Service year as a panacea for reducing the over-dependence on government for employment. Government will continue to provide the enabling environment, the necessary support, the encouragement and opportunities for our teeming youths and graduates to discover their potentials, which they can exploit, to become even employers of labour themselves. "
" As a government, we have resolved to make our women and youth empowerment program a continuous one, subject to expansion with a view to increasing the number of beneficiaries. As a matter of fact, but for the embezzling of the N2 billion which was initially remitted to the immediate past administration for the same program, we would have done far better in this mass empowerment scheme."
"
