Abia state governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has commissioned a half-way home built by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation/Total Upstream Nigeria Limited and partners and donated to the state government as part of their corporate social responsibility.
Expressing his appreciation to NNPC and Total, the Governor said that the Women & Youth Development Centre would go a long way to create employment opportunities for the people of Abia known for their industriousness.
Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Barr. Chris Ezem, Ikpeazu restated the commitment of his administration to vocational training as a tool of empowerment, job creation and provision of needed manpower to drive industrial growth. Further, he promised that the facility would be judiciously used as a training ground for skills acquisition in the State.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs & Social Development, Mrs. Ukachi Amala, promised that every material equipment provided within the facility would be deployed to good use.
She expressed joy that the centre would provide opportunities for women, youths and children to learn skills and improve the economy of the State.
Mr. Ajakura Wokoma represented the Managing Director of NNPC and he gave a speech via Zoom. He said that the project was done in furtherance of the corporate social responsibilities of the NNPC and that there were others being commissioned all over the country.
He stated that the project was borne out of the need to mitigate the gaps in maternal and child health among other Inited Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Bala Wunti, Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services also via Zoom, said the project is a purpose-built, fully equipped women and youth development centre with state-of-the-art facilities, including borehole and integrated power supply system.
The Project Manager, Chief Julius Imoh, disclosed that the building has the capacity of training over 50 people at a time, has 34 sewing machines as well as a hall of about 400 capacity with well-equipped offices, ICT training unit among other things.
