Obaseki orders employment of 4,200 youths

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has ordered the immediate employment of 4,200 youths across the state, under the Edo State Public Works Programme, from July 1.

This was contained in a statement signed by the governor’s Chief of Staff, Taiwo Akerele, which said the measure was in line with the governor’s promise to create 200,000 jobs within four years.

The statement said Obaseki directed the engagement and training of 50 civil engineers to supervise the public works programme, and explained that the successful applicants were taken from the database of unemployed youths developed by the government for the Edo Jobs Initiative.

“Those that would be employed would work across the state on 45 inner roads selected under this special window. The governor also promised to engage another set of 4,200 in August 2017 under another window that will see the state government constructing and maintaining another set of 55 roads,” the statement said.

The statement added that the administration had finalized arrangements to train young electrical and electronic engineers under a special arrangement with Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), a programme which the statement said

would build the capacity of young men and women on the practical aspect of electrical engineering in line with the ‘Electrify Edo Project’, which kicked off with the signing of a power purchase agreement between the government, Siemens AG and Ossiomo Power limited.