Delta State Governor, Dr. Okowa Inaugurates 810 Youth for the Rural Youth Skill Acquisition Programme (RYSA).
Ahead of the forthcoming 2023 general election, the Governor of Delta State and the Vice Presidential Candidate of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the coming election, His Excellency, Senator (Dr.) Ifeanyi Okowa has rolled out testimony of how his administration’s quest to continually provide opportunities and dividend of democracy for youths in the State to be self-employed and to become wealth creators.
Dr. Okowa gave this account in his address during the official inauguration and flag off ceremony of the third cycle of the Rural Youth Skills Acquisition Programme (RYSA) held at National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) permanent Orientation Camp, Issele–Uku, Delta State.
In a release made available to Providence News, Governor Okowa listed the success and impact of other empowerment programmes of his administration, like Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP), Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP), Women Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Programme (WESAP) and Girls Entrepreneurship and Skills Training (GEST) Programme, Okowa said, the Rural Youth Skill Acquisition (RYSA) Programmes have been strategically planned and designed to tackle the problem of youth unemployment in the state rural communities as well as curb rural-urban drift.
“The focus of RYSA is to concentrate efforts at developing youth entrepreneurs in rural communities who will stimulate the growth and development of businesses in their immediate communities”, he stated.
He went on to state that, “RYSA comprises two major components – the Hands-on Skills Training and the Community Business School. Through the Hands-on Skills Training the vocational skills of participants are upscaled, while the Community Business School is focused on life skills, mind-set change, leadership and business management skills development necessary for participants to become successful entrepreneurs”.
However, he disclosed that, in this cycle, like previous cycles, 810 participants (3 each from 270 electoral wards across the State) participants have been enrolled into the programme and as shown by the beneficiaries of the first and the second cycles of RYSA, the training and mentoring process aim is beyond raising entrepreneurs, but to produce young leaders and business managers who have imbibed high levels of personal discipline, responsibility and effectiveness that can affect their immediate environment positively.
While formally inducting the 810 beneficiaries who have successfully gone through the various application and screening processes set by the supervising ministry, the Ministry of Youth Development, into the Rural Skills Acquisition Programme of Delta State, he encouraged the inductees to make a difference with the programme in their respective communities, and declared, “It is our belief that you would take a cue from your predecessors in this programme to undergo your training with an utmost sense of seriousness.
“You should count yourselves privileged to have been selected from a pool of over 20,000 applicants to commence this cycle. I expect you to make the most of this opportunity by diligently applying yourself to the training programme. Like the Slogan of the programme, I would encourage you to Make a Difference in your respective communities”, he added.
Governor Okowa commended the Management and Staff of the Ministry of Youth Development for their dedication and hard work to ensure each of the cycles of the programme is successful.
“It is my belief that this cycle will not be different and that ultimately, the success story of this cycle will surpass the previous ones”, he said. 
