Successor companies in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have promised to generate 16,200 employment opportunities for skilled technical manpower in the next five years with immediate requirement of 8, 400 technical manpower in generation, transmission and distribution companies.

Speaking during the presentation of admission letters to 15 Kwara State youths, who were part of the 500 beneficiaries of graduate skills development programme, under the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN),  in Ilorin on Thursday, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Isiaka Gold, said governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has approved N20 million to sponsor the training Programme of the youth from the state.

The SSG, who said the 15 graduates were selected from the three Senatorial districts of the state for the one-year programme, added that the programme is aimed at positioning the beneficiaries for employment in the power sector in view of vast employment opportunities in the sector.

He said the N20million approved for the programme was meant to cover tuition fees, accommodation and other logistics, adding that the beneficiaries who are mostly first class graduates in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering were selected from the state's unemployed youths' data base.   

The scheme, Gold added, would provide the graduates the practical knowledge and skills in the generation, distribution and transmission chains of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and position them for employment opportunities in the sector.

"We have given the beneficiaries adequate support to be comfortable in that programme. We will be monitoring them to ensure they are successful in the programme.

"We believe when people go to school and pass very well, we should not allow them to roam about the street. In line with the state government's youth empowerment programme, we will continue to look for available jobs at the federal and state levels to fix our people. This is what we have been doing since the inception of this administration", he added.

The Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Youth Empowerment, Alhaji Sakariyau Babatunde, explained that apart from the graduate beneficiaries, the governor has also approved  the training of non-graduates in the institute for skills acquisition.