Priscilla Ofunre, Ado-Ekiti
Chief of Staff to Governor Kayode Fayemi and the Chairman, Ekiti State Selection Committee on Special Public Works (SPW), Mr. Biodun Omoleye, has said a total of N1 billion would be injected into the state’s economy quarterly when the programme kicks off.
He said no fewer than 16,000 Ekiti indigenes would benefit from Federal Government’s project targeted at employing 774,000 jobless youths across the 774 local governments in the country.
For the actualisation of the kernel objective of the programme, which was to tackle poverty and criminality among the youths, Omoleye warned committee against unwholesome practices while carrying out their duties in the state.
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Omoleye made the remarks at the inauguration of Ekiti State selection Committee on Extended Special Public Works programme, on Tuesday, in Ado-Ekiti at the Executive Chambers office.
According to him, the SPW was genuinely designed for those who desired the service and not for political patronage or other considerations, it was designed to create a face lift in the lives of young people in Ekiti State.
Omoleye said the special Public Works programme is designed to provide modest stipends for 774,000 Nigerians who are to be engaged as itinerant workers to undertake public works in their respective communities.
Omoleye noted that the single intervention would be shoring up Ekiti State revenue by close to one Billion Naira in just three months, with each local government earning N60 million quarterly .
He charged the youths that “anybody who is not ready to be engaged as unskilled personnel needs not apply for the programme.”
According to him, the SPW was intervening in “environmental and sanitation activities, cutting and clearing of road verges, filling of potholes, engaging in traffic control, beautification of public sites and distilling of blocked drains among others.”
Omoleye noted that the economic impact of the intervention was better imagined as it will also impact on generation additional income, through multiplier effects to well over 5,000 dependants and indirect beneficiaries.
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Governor Kayode Fayemi, who was represented by Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, urged the committee members to be fair to all and be ready to work in areas highlighted for the job.
The chairman, Ekiti State Council of Obas, Oba Adebanji Ajibade Alabi, commended the Federal Government for the programme and urged the people to be committed to the job to make it a success.
Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), in Ekiti State, Mr. Eyitayo Fabunmi, noted that the project selection and structurisation must be keyed into, while the NDE Coordinator, Mr. Alao Babatunde, urged cooperation of traditional rulers for the success of the programme.
He advocated for adequate inclusion of young girls and physically challenge in the programme.