The Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau, said since inception over 6, 000 unemployed youths have been trained in various skills across the state.
The Chief Job and Wealth Creation Officer, Prof. Eric Eboh, made the disclosure on Friday December 16th 2021, during the Entrepreneurship and Business Management Training (EBMT), Workshop for 246 beneficiaries of the 2020/2021 Cycle of the Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) in Fashion Design and Tailoring.
“We have trained over 6000 persons. If you know of any person that has gone through this training and did not get what he/she is supposed to get, let that person come”, Prof. Eboh, said.
Speaking on the purpose of the EBMT, Eboh, disclosed that “it is to give something that you did not have the opportunity of learning in your various training centres. It has been established that for you to be a good entrepreneur, you must have character.
“It is to is to expose you to how you can manage, start your business”, describing it as a post training proficiency test, “the skills you have acquired in your various training centres is not enough because talent is never enough for success”, he noted.
He charged them on quality mindset, positive relationship, actions, energy and to take responsibilities for their actions and inactions.
He emphasized that the post proficiency test, was aimed at equipping them to know, “How to start and run your business, how to manage your business money, how to grow your business, how to market your product, how to relate well with your customers., how to keep business records and how to cope with business challenges.”
Also, the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Youth Monitoring and Mentoring (DYMM), Mr Edward Mekwunye, charged them to make good use of the opportunity provided by the State Government to become great entrepreneurs and successful business owners.
He assured them that DYMM would visit them to verify their business status at their shops two months after establishment and to enrol them for mentorship programmes in line with the mandate of the agency.
In his lectures entitled, “How to Start Your Business” and “How to Write a Business Plan,” a resource person, Pastor Afolabi Adun, urged the graduands to carry out feasibility study/market survey about the business in order to understand the business environment better before setting-up, enjoined them to take seriously customer care and proper record keeping at all times.
On her part, the Executive Assistant to the Governor/Coordinator Delta-UNIDO Centre & Export Initiative (DUCEI), Mrs Shimite Bello, in her lecture, “How to Market and Brand your Fashion Design Fashion and its Products from Start-Up,” tasked them to use their fashion skills as tools to become global entrepreneurs in the fashion market.
She emphasized that the end result and output of their productions would make them marketable in the global market, advising them to aspire to acquire more skills so as to attain perfection in their finished products.
In the same vein, the Creative Director of Signature Secret Fashion School, Dr Oreva Okowa, advised them to carve a niche for themselves by identifying specific areas of expertise in order to stand out among their competitors.
She urged them to register their businesses early enough, design their business logo and label as a way of branding their businesses.
Speaking separately, Ighomrore Evwikparobo ( Uvwie LGA) and Iwhiwhu Onoriode (Ethiope East) expressed gratitude to the State Government for the opportunity given to them to be enrolled in STEP, pledging to use the skills and knowledge acquired to become successful entrepreneurs and job creators.
Meanwhile, beneficiaries shared their experiences from their various training centres across the state.
