According to a news report from Leadership, the National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC) is set to distribute starter packs worth over N255 million to 800 Kwara youths who have participated in the agency’s vocational training scheme.

This announcement was made by the managing director of HYPPADEC, Abubakar Yelwa, during a stakeholders' meeting on the agency’s Youth Transformation Programme (YTP) in Ilorin. Represented by the director of Community and Rural Development, Dr Mahmud Muhammed, Yelwa disclosed that the agency has trained over 5,000 youths through its YTP scheme.

He stated that the 800 youths from Kwara State who benefited from the scheme will soon receive starter packs to begin their own businesses and potentially employ others. The starter packs, which cost N255,620,973, will be distributed to those trained in 15 vocations, including tailoring and fish farming.

He enjoined the beneficiaries not to sell the starter packs but put them to judicious use, adding that “we do this to remove the youths from the streets and thereby ensuring security in the society.

We encouraged them to choose their preferred vocations .

About 5000 youths were trained across the member – states of HYPPADEC.”

Earlier, the state coordinator of HYPPADEC, Hajiya Ajarat Al-Hassan, had said that 800 Kwara youths were trained in the agency’s youth transformation programme.

” We have trained 800 youths in every areas of skills under the YTP scheme. We paid the beneficiaries some stipend during the course of the training. We shall soon provide them with starters packs,” she said.