By Bashir Bello

The Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has on Sunday said plans were underway to train not fewer than 1,000 youth in the northwest region of the country on Generative Artificial Intelligence, AI.

Mr. Kalu stated this on the side line of the graduation ceremony of 2,000 youth, who were trained in various skills by Better Life for Children and Women Future Foundation in Kano.

Represented by Tayyib Saleh Danpullo, his Senior Legislative Aide, the Deputy Speaker also promised donation of the sum of N30 million to the foundation.

In his speech, Mr. Kalu noted that youth empowerment could curb the rate of poverty to a large extent, adding that one of the keys to empowering them is with skill development.

“When a youth is equipped with essential skills, he or she can utilize them to feed, assist others, and even invest for future use, aiding the nation economically. This will in-turn contribute to the increase in employability and add to the GDP of the nation.

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“When the youths are empowered, they empower the masses, thereby paving path for a better future. To build a better tomorrow, we need to nurture the youths of today.

“Empowerment ensures that youth has the necessary skill to sustain a livelihood, preventing him to adopt the path of crime,” the lawmaker, Mr. Kalu said.

Earlier, in her remarks, the founder of the foundation, Amb. Sameera Abubakar said apart from graduation of the 2,000 beneficiaries, additional 2,000 youth were inaugurated to commence their set of trainings.

Amb. Abubakar added that the foundation is targeting training of 10,000 youth in each of the 36 states of the federation.

She said the beneficiaries were trained on various skills, such as solar installation, tailoring, catering, make-up, among others.

Meanwhile, the beneficiaries commended the foundation for the gesture which they described as life-changer as it had succeeded in providing them with jobs and taking them away from idleness.