NOA urges North-East youth to access 30 Federal Empowerment Programmes
The National Orientation Agency, NOA, Bauchi State Directorate, has urged young entrepreneurs across the North-East to take advantage of more than 30 Federal Government empowerment, skills development and entrepreneurship programmes under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Acting Director of NOA in Bauchi State, Malam Adamu Umar Sarkinyara, made the call at the closing ceremony of the North-East Young Entrepreneurs Summit held in Bauchi.
The summit, organised by ZETSI Africa in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and the North-East Development Commission, NEDC, had the theme, “Catalyzing Youth Entrepreneurship for Peace, Progress and Prosperity in the North-East.”
Malam Sarkinyara said NOA, under the leadership of its Director-General, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, had been repositioned to effectively communicate government policies, programmes and achievements to citizens across the country.
He described the agency as a bridge between government and the people, stressing that NOA would deploy its structures, including its offices across the 774 Local Government Areas, community structures, traditional institutions and faith based organisations, to ensure that government programmes reach citizens at the grassroots.
The Acting Director said more than 900 billion naira had been committed to various development projects in the North-East, including road rehabilitation, energy and resettlement projects.
Malam Sarkinyara further unveiled a range of Federal Government programmes targeting youth empowerment, funding, employment, skills development, education, agriculture and social investment.
Among them are the Presidential Conditional Grant, Presidential Loan Scheme, AGSMEIS, BOI YES-P, CREDICORP, NATEP and YEIDEP, as well as the 3 Million Technical Talent programme, N-Power, LEEP, NELEX, GIGS and Digital Nigeria Academy.
Others include the NELFUND Student Loan, Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme, NEXIT, TVET, FarmerMoni, Green Imperative, RAPID, Waste-to-Wealth, the Special Public Works Programme and NSIPA.
He said the NOA offices across the 20 Local Government Areas of Bauchi State were available to provide information and free guidance to young people seeking to access the programmes.
The NOA official advised prospective beneficiaries to obtain their National Identification Numbers, NIN, Bank Verification Numbers and register their businesses where required.
He cautioned youths against falling victim to fraudsters, stressing that applications for the Federal Government programmes were free.
Sarkinyara urged young people to use only official platforms and verify information through NOA offices and other authorised government channels.
