Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has urged young people to move beyond complaints about the country’s challenges and focus on creating practical solutions within their communities.
He also encouraged them to remain committed to their various careers, work consistently and stay prepared to benefit from opportunities whenever they emerge.
The governor spoke on Wednesday in Benin City during the second day of the Edo Youth Impact Forum 2.0, which focused on ‘Ideas, Capital and Impact.’
Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Umar Ikhilor, Okpebholo said his administration remained focused on the “welfare and development of our youth, and harnessing the immense potentials, talents and creativity of the Edo youths.”
He said, “Ask yourself, what you can do to fix a problem in your community, within your environment, instead of just sitting down to complain and grumbling, raining abuses; you can choose to do something. Take action. Part of taking action might just be participating. Participate, be involved. Let us not just be on social media abusing and complaining.
“Whether in the digital space, the music industry, the fashion industry, even the agricultural industry and all that, continue to do what you are doing and do it well. Someday, the opportunities will come, and it will meet your preparation.”
The governor expressed satisfaction with the impact of the Edo Youth Impact Forum, describing it as part of his administration’s strategy for developing young people through practical training, master classes and financial support.
He said the forum is “projecting the very agenda of the government when it comes to human capacity building. We are ensuring that the forum practises our philosophy of practical governance in empowering youth, training them, providing master classes and empowering them after those master classes.”
The programme’s Team Lead and Special Adviser on Finance, Investments and Revenue Generation, Kizito Okpebholo, explained that the governor established the initiative to provide young people with an alternative form of empowerment.
He recalled that the first edition supported five startup ideas with a total of N10m, giving each business N2m.
He added, “This year, we are taking it a step further. We are giving out N40,000,000 in grants to 11 business groups. We have them in different categories,”