Chairman of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh, has advocated the establishment of an Action Plan on ICT Youth Empowerment and Knowledge Economy for Imo State. Speaking at the just concluded Imo Youth Summit, the Zinox Boss said that the global recession of 2008/2009 revealed that youth unemployment was a major threat to economic growth and political stability.

He mentioned the Arab Spring as one uprising that proved that the unemployed youth of the world had become too restive. At the national level reference was made to the instability in the oil producing Niger Delta, The religious riots of the North, the high crime rate and kidnapping in the South East. Ekeh said that the greatest problem facing leaders today all over the world was how to find gainful employment for the teeming population of unemployed youth.

He argued that Imo State should put in place a plan designed to build a generation of young Imo citizens empowered with ICTs to actively participate in the Information Society and consistently contribute to the development of the State.

The plan would aim at exploiting the potential of ICT, and to find effective and innovative ways to put this potential at the service of Imo Youths. He recommended a number of activities that would achieve the set objectives.

His advice was that the Imo state government should officially establish Imo Youths ICT4D Network and align it to other youth networks in the country and continent;  establish youth training and information centers and support existing training centers for youth e-skill development; design and setup ICT Youth incubation centers in at least 10 LGA’s of the State;  establish Youth Incubation Funds for the 10 centers and providing opportunity for youth in research and development; establishment of ICT Centers that guarantee a multi-media exposure.