The North East Development Commission (NEDC) is sponsoring the training of 50 youths as electrical technicians for immediate employment, says its Managing Director, Mr Mohammed Alkali.
Addressing the youths in Maiduguri on Saturday before their departure to Mainstream Academy in Kainji, Niger State, Alkali said the participants were drawn from Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi and Taraba States.t
He tasked them on attaching seriousness to the training, pointing out that those who graduated successfully will be employed by the Yola Electrity Distribution Company (YEDC), handling electricity supply to Borno, Adamawa and Taraba States.
“At the end of the training, participants who are successful in acquiring the skills and knowledge to become professional linesmen will be retained as employees of Yola Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC),” Alkali said.
The managingb director said that the NEDC in line with its mandates would continue to partner with organisations in enhancing the skills of unemployed youths in the sub-region by giving them the needed qualifications and skills to fill existing vacancies in the zone.
The Director in charge of Humanitarian Affairs in NEDC, Mr Musa Yashi, said the youths, selected from many applications after an aptitude test, would be trained for eight weeks.
“They would be exposed to high power electrical installation and maintenance training at the academy in Kainji.
“The intensive training involves two weeks of classroom session and six weeks of practical training,” Yashi said.
On his part, Mr Usman Umar, the Director of Mainstream Academy, a subsidiary of Mainstream Energy Solution Ltd, lauded NEDC for investing in education and skills development.
Umar urged the youths to maximise the opportunity provided them to also boost their potentials.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Mr Mohammed Yerima, said they remained grateful being among those that would benefit from the many opportunities provided by NEDC for youths in the zone.
Yerima assured that they would not to disappoint the commission and thier families for the double opportunity provided them in training and employment.