Ekiti Commissioner for Youth Development, Mr Gold Adedayo has assured that the Oyebanji Administration would continue to come up with initiatives that will ensure meaningful youth engagement as well as enhance their quality of life.

The Commissioner who gave the assurance in Ado-Ekiti while featuring on “Ekiti Loni/ Ekiti Today”, a live bilingual audience participation programme on radio restated the commitment of the State Government to providing youths with an enabling and empowering environment that would enable them channel their energies towards profitable ventures.

He explained that it was as a result of the huge importance that Governor Oyebanji attaches to matters affecting the youth as well as the important role they are capable of playing in economic development of the nation that prompted the Governor’s to create a full fledged Ministry of Youth Development to properly coordinate their activities.

The Commissioner recalled that Governor Oyebanji in October, 2023 organized an interface with representatives of the youth in the State at the Bishop Adetiloye in Ado-Ekiti tagged “Youths Let’s Talk With BAO” where the youths asked and got answers to a number of questions that bordered on socio- economic and human capital development; employment and wealth creation, youth and sports development among others.

He said that efforts of Government to empower youths have started yielding positive result as the present administration had since assumption of office in October 2022 provided over 15,000 direct jobs for youths in various sectors of the economy including 1,500 primary school teachers, 510 secondary school teachers, 220 Non – teaching staff in public secondary schools, 107 staff of special schools which comprise 91 junior and 16 senior, 131 technical colleges staff members which include 56 junior and 75 senior, 150 security guards, 287 junior civil servants, 161 senior civil servants, 35 staff members in the state electricity board, 78 other staff in the State Hospitals Management Board and 20 sign language interpreters as well as those benefiting from numerous empowerment programmes facilitated by Government and it’s partners.

Adedayo disclosed that as part of its determined efforts to achieve his shared prosperity agenda for all through food security and surplus, Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji earlier in the month launched the “YSJ Bring Back The Youth in Agric” project under which 438 youths were empowered with already prepared land as well as farming equipment and seedlings

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The Commissioner stressed that his ministry has in addition collated data of youths and aggregated them into five thematic areas of their interests which include: Youths in Business, Youths in Entertainment, Youths in Agriculture and Youths in Technology while a resource centre where youths can demonstrate their innovation, advertise their products and track job and business opportunities across the globe has been established by his ministry adding that efforts are on to open similar resource centres in the two other senatorial districts in the state .

He stated that the Ekiti State Youth Parliament was currently reviewing the State Youth Policy as part of steps aimed ensuring that the Policy is in tune with current realities in the fast changing world.