By PETER DURU

MAKURDI—Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State has advocated proper education for northern youths as the only panacea for peace in the region.

Suswam spoke against the backdrop of the security challenges confronting some northern states including Yobe, Borno, Kaduna, Kano and Adamawa, among others.

The governor spoke yesterday, while laying the foundation stone of Ashi Skills Acquisition Centre at Anyii in Logo Local Government Area of the state.

Represented by his deputy, Chief Steven Lawani, the Governor said: “I sincerely believe that, while addressing the security challenges in the North, the provision of qualitative education for our youths remains a potent weapon against the security situation we are living with today.

”Our leaders and stakeholders owe it a responsibility to invest in education and the provision of vocational training for our youths in order to place them on a better stead to become useful to themselves.

”I commend the proprietor of this centre for embarking on a project that would positively impact on the lives of the youths of the state; I urge others to emulate him since government alone cannot adequately fund education.”

In his speech, proprietor of the centre, Dr. Terkura Suswam, said when completed, the centre would be made of five departments that would be manned by Chinese experts who would train youths from across the country on various skills including arts and crafts.’’