Determined to engage the youths and women, Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has set aside N2bn from which they access loan at the single digit to enable them to set up and expand existing businesses and contribute to society.
The gesture, according to the Governor would break the chain of idleness and re-orient their mind into productive ventures.
This, Dickson said while briefing journalists in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa state capital.
He disabused the mind the youths and women who have written themselves off, stressing that the Restoration Government does not see any of them as a nonentity, and that was why government rolled out a robust programme to enable them either start or grow existing businesses.
Said he ‘’the essence of this initiative is ensuring that school dropouts and those with no formal education could harness their God-given talent through vocational trades and become an entrepreneur in the future.
The Governor said the effect of folding our hands to issues of idleness among youths and women far outweigh the minimal effort to support them to change society.
‘’We don’t want our youths to engage in heinous crime, cultism, armed robbery, militancy amongst other vices, just as we don’t want our young women to practice prostitution or be forced into it, child mother, situation where teenagers begin to nurse baby with little or no experience, hence decided to set aside almost zero interest empowerment loan scheme’’ Dickson submitted.
He charged the youths and women to form cooperatives in the eight councils’ areas as a veritable platform through which government through the Izon Ibe Micro-Finance would reach out to every one of them.
In a related development, Dickson assured women in the eight local government areas to take advantage of the Bayelsa Health Insurance Scheme (BHIS), as it allows them to access the best of medical facilities with the little token, even if it’s open major operation or minor surgeries.
According to him as “the talk and do” Governor, his style of governance places a high premium on the people, and without the people then there won’t be a need for government; and that underscores several policies and programmes in education, housing, security that the Restoration government has rolled out for the people.
Dickson pointed that in line with Sustainable Development Goals, infant and maternal mortality rate would be given serious attention, ‘’we must halt avoidable death in this state.
‘’Our pregnant women would become government properties and they would get free treatment in our registered health facilities in the state capital, Yenagoa, and the councils areas.
‘’The treatment would commence from the point of conception to safe delivery, in the best facilities with good ambience and comfort.
To this end, Dickson called on doctors and medical health workers to key into this programmes to ensure that they deliver kind services for which the Restoration Government is paying them to the patients; a noted the programme is an open visa for government to reward genuine workers, as well as flush out those waiting for salary alert without working.