Shell trains over 2,500 N-Delta youths in 10 yrs

SHELL Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Western Division has given capacity training to over 2,500 Niger_Delta  youths in welding/fabrication, electrical installation, fashion design, catering, automobile repairs, computer repairs, secretariat studies and other vocations in the last 10 years to make them productively engaged in life.

General Manager, SPDC, Western division, Mr. Cor Zegelaar disclosed this at Effurun, near Warri at the commissioning of the first ever SPDC/JV –sponsored Industrial Tailoring Programme for youths in Delta state.

He said he was delighted because the training programme would promote business partnership amongst youths in the Niger_ Delta region.

According to him, “The fashion industry is an evolving one with opportunities for growth. Recent studies have shown that there are great employment prospects in this area. The Industrial Tailoring Programme brought together some fashion designers together to form a cooperative in order to grow their business; the best 10 fashion designers were selected and they went through a three_month capacity building training with experienced designers in the fashion industry”.

Zegelaar said the Joint Venture partners believed the over N18 million voted for the programme was a worthy investment because the youths who have been trained would become relevant members of their communities, contributing meaningfully to the development of their areas, as well as become ambassadors of peace that would join hands with others to encourage the younger ones to shun violence and societal vices.

He challenged the beneficiaries to re_brand themselves and their communities, while urging them to go with determination to succeed in business and to always work as a team because working together is a key to success.

“We also want to encourage you to give back to the community and the society by duplicating the chance you were given and adopting a youth apprentice”, he added.

Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Delta state, Mr. Azuka Osakwe commended SPDC and its partner for the gesture, saying that high unemployment rate in the country was the basis for youth restiveness, and could be overcome with concerted efforts on employment generation, rather than increase in the number of security personnel, especially by oil companies.

He asserted that the country has the capacity to provide opportunities for all the youths and appealed to multinational firms to carry out research on how to gainfully empower the youths, adding that it would eventually help in cutting down their security expenditures.