Yola, May 13, 2019 (NAN) No fewer than 185 youths in Adamawa have benefited from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Empowerment Initiative in Photography.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony on Monday in Yola, North East Nigeria, Gov. Muhammadu Bindow, urged the beneficiaries to make profitable use of the starter packs given to them.
Represented by his Special Adviser on Job Creation and Poverty Alleviation, Alhaji Ayuba Audu, Bindow listed various SDG’s interventions in the state since his emergence as governor.
He also decried the lazy and careless attitudes of many youths in the state towards empowerment programmes.
He said that about 50 per cent of the 10, 700 youths that benefited from the state government empowerment programmes had sold their starter packs.
“Please, don’t emulate those selling their packs, use it with the training you acquire to be self-employed and better your lives,” he said.
Mr Usman Bukar, SDG’s Focal Person in Adamawa, said that each pack contained a digital camera, generator, printer and printing papers.
Bukar said the initiative, which was a collaboration between the state and federal government, was in line with the current administration’s commitment to address unemployment.
He further cautioned beneficiaries again selling the items, adding that “ with what we have seen so far, it means there are more to come.”
In his remarks, SDG’s Coordinator, North East, Mr Idris Bawa, represented by Ibrahim Ghaji, Adamawa Liaison Officer, said the photography programme was for beneficiaries in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
He urged the beneficiaries to make maximum use of the opportunity as professional photographers by becoming self-reliant to better their lives and families.
In his goodwill message, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Adamawa, Mr Attah Mustafa, also urged beneficiaries to make good use of the photographic starter pack.
Speaking on behalf of beneficiaries, Mallam Abdullahi Musa, expressed their gratitude to the initiative, and assured that they would reciprocate good use of the packs.
