Plans have been concluded by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to move its men and machineries into Delta State in a bid to key into the state government economic blue print.
UNIDO is to partner with Delta State in the area of entrepreneurship and skill acquisition in line with the administration’s job and wealth creation programme.
To this end, a meeting was held between Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State along with his economic team and top officials of UNIDO headed by the Managing Director , Programmes Development and Teachnical Cooperations Division, Mr. Phillippe Scholtes.
The meeting which held in Asaba, the Delta State capital focused on ways and means of partnering with the state government in the area of job and wealth creation for its teeming youths in order to reduced the rate of unemployment in the society.
The discussion also focused on how to put into judicious use already existing facilities to boost skill accusation in the area of shoe and leather works production.
Governor Okowa told the guest during the parley that the state government was also ready to partner with UNIDO in the area of agro-business, especially aqua-culture, palm and cassava production and processing.
‘’We will co-operate with you beyond what we are doing now; we hope to partner with you in the area of Agriculture especially, in the production and processing of cassava, palm and aqua-culture where we have comparative advantages,” he said, adding, “we believe that we must find ways of re-orientating our youths to make them embrace agriculture and skill acquisition as means of creating jobs and wealth.’’
He reiterated, ‘’as Nigeria population grows, there is the need to make sure that the people acquire skills that will make them job and wealth creators.’’
Senator Okowa commended UNIDO for its industrialization programmes stating that, they were in line with his administration’s SMART agenda of job and wealth creation.
He observed that UNIDO has laudable programmes aimed at empowering the people which his administration would key into.
In their views, Mr. Scholtes, Aurelia Calabro-Bellamoli (Senior industrial Officer, UNIDO) and Mr. Jesse Ojobor explained that UNIDO is a specialized agency of United Nations that provide technical services to government to ensure an inclusive and sustainable industrial growth.
While stating that they were in Asaba to facilitate the early take off of the shoe and leather manufacturing centre, Issele-Uku, they commended Governor Okowa for his desire to empower the people through the prosperity agenda, noting that there were other areas they could partner with the state government for speedy sustainable development of the state.
He pointed out that, ‘’Delta State Leather and Foot wear Production Centre is the biggest in sub-sahara Africa with a capacity to train 3,000 people annually and produce high quality products for the sub-sahara African Market; we are enthused by the Governor’s interest in empowering the people,” .
