What would serve as another season of Kwara's mission to bringing succour to the people including the unemployed youth, the poor and excluded groups was brought to the fore last week when the Kwara State government through its youth empowerment office gave out 5,400 forms in line with the Quick Win programme aimed at creating job opportunities for the teeming unemployed in the state.

As part of the framework toward the reorientation and repositioning of Kwara youths on job creation and empowerment programmes, the state government has introduced the Quick win intervention scheme to bridge the gap existing between unemployment and direct employment and/ or entrepreneurship.

Giving insight on the latest empowerment move by the government, the Secretary to the Government of Kwara State and the Chairman of the Quick Win programme, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, in a text of a press briefing stated that        "QuickWin is a rapid and affordable intervention designed to move more youths from unemployment to empowerment within available resources".

The objectives of the scheme, according to him, include reducing unemployment, adding value to public service, providing social safety net for youths and other less privileged, improving the standard of living and reducing insecurity while aiming to empower youths by engaging them for specific public service interventions.

He stated that the scheme targets the engagement of 5,000 youths within the first quarter of 2014 and a total of 8,200 by the end of the year, adding that, 5,400 youths would be empowered in the first phase.

In the light of the above, a ceremony to dispatch the QuickWin forms across the 16 local government areas of the state was held last week which had council chairmen, party chairmen, liaison officers and youth empowerment coordinators among others gracing the occasion.

Speaking on behalf of the SSG during the distribution of forms at the Conference room of the SSG, the Senior Special Adviser to the Kwara State Governor On Youth Empowerment, Alhaji Saka Babatunde, reaffirmed that "for its initial take off, arrangements have been finalized to engage 5,400 youths within the nooks and crannies of the state", adding that,  specifically, the Quick Win programme would create jobs for youths in areas such as Clean and Green; Entrepreneurship training for graduates and non-graduates; Environmental Corps; Kwara Road Transport Management Agency (KWARTMA); and Kwara Bridge Employment Scheme (KWABES).

The entrepreneurship training will empower youths to embark on various enterprises to create livelihood for themselves and to employ others, while the beneficiaries of the Clean and Green will be engaged to expand the government's city beautification programme which is designed to keep the metropolis clean and tidy.

The Kwara Environmental Corps, in line with the government's desire to keep the State clean for health and aesthetic reasons, will serve as first responders in critical environmental situations including evacuating drainages, conducting advocacy on clean and tidy environment and enforcing State environmental and KWEPA laws.
The KWARTMA will also be expanded and boosted with the engagement of QuickWin beneficiaries to augment the existing traffic control measures, while KWABES will also get a stipulated number of youths in this phase of the programme.

Handing over the forms to the various representatives of the 16 LGAs , the SSA reminded the stakeholders that "the youths remain a veritable tool for economic and social advancement of any nation, the reason every responsive and responsible government such as ours would leave no stone unturned at ensuring that doors of opportunities are opened to them.

"The task of preparing the youths for the future and the future for our youths is our joint responsibility. It therefore behoves us all, to ensure that we play our expected roles effectively and efficiently. Consequently, the desire of the state government is to ensure that the forms get to the grassroots in order to give a lease of life to the core poor, who mostly reside in the rural areas".

He added that it is the expectation of the State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, that the expected spread and equity is achieved and success of the programme recorded, even as he enjoined the stakeholders to ensure prompt, fair and equitable distribution of the forms and early return of completed forms to the Office of the Senior Special Adviser on Youth Empowerment by Wednesday, March 26, for collation and enlistment.

He also said that starting from June this year, a total of 200 jobs will be created and spread across the 16 local government areas every month until the target of 8,200 jobs is met.
Responding, the ALGON Chairman and Chairman of Ilorin East LG, Barrister Abdullateef Okandeji, described the occasion as a milestone in the history of Kwara State, saying that, the creation of employment opportunities through the Quick Win intervention scheme will go a long way to alleviate poverty and to keep the youths busy.