Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State on Wednesday appealed to youths of the State to take up any skill acquisition training and start-up small businesses.

Ugwuanyi, also urged the youths to shun the get-rich-quick syndrome mentality which is in vogue now, advising that taking on such small businesses seriously holds the great tomorrow they yearn for.

The governor gave the advice at the Youths ICT And Skill Acquisition Project Close Out Ceremony and Presentation of Cash Award to 34 Outstanding Performing ICT and Skill Acquisition Youths from Igboeze North Local Government Area.

Ugwuanyi who was represented by the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr Ugonna Ibe, commended the Coca-Cola Foundation and Baywood Foundation for making the training of 600 youths in the state on ICT and skill acquisition possible.

“You must have to start from somewhere small; while with commitment and diligence you grow like the big names we have in businesses in the country,” he said.

Ugwuanyi said that the state government had placed priority on youths’ empowerment and engagement to build a promising future for them and prepare them for future roles and leadership in all spheres of life.

He, however, congratulated the trainees, urging them to remain focused and put all they had learnt to practical use and benefit.

Speaking, the Country Representative of Baywood Foundation, Mr Chukwudi Ojielo, urged the youths to make use of their android internet-enabled devices to create a market space to herald their skills and talents.

“Apart from the training and giving 33 outstanding performing trainees in each council area N45,000; we have equipped them to use their android phone as their big shop for packaging and selling their wares and talents.

Read Also Suspected herdsmen kidnap 8-year-old in Enugu, demand N15 million ransom

“So, through the training, we have succeeded in eliminating the need for physical shops and they can operate from their houses, any available space or as remote as their villages to reach any part of the state, country and world at large,” he said.

The coordinator said that the graduating trainees would be followed up and mentored by the foundation to ensure that they succeed and follow the best practices of financial prudence.

One of the graduating youths, Mrs Anthonia Ugwu, appreciated both foundations for adding value to her life and the lives of youths within Enugu State.

Ugwu also called on beneficiaries of the project to utilise the skill they had learnt to double their influence and income in life as well as be employers of labour.

They were trained on entrepreneurship/vocational skills such as ICT, photography, photo, video-editing, barbing, digital marketing, graphics design, confectionaries, making of household essentials, consumables, fascinators, hats and other small scale enterprises among others.