Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan indicated at the weekend that the monster of youth unemployment confronting the nation would soon be a thing of the past in the State.
Governor Uduaghan offered the glimmer of hope on unemployment during the 8th Convocation ceremony of the Delta State University, Abraka and also used the occasion to warn governorship aspirants in the 2015 polls to pursue their ambitions peacefully, devoid of violence.
He congratulated the graduands and assured them that with the Delta beyond Oil programmes, a lot of private investors were coming into the state with good job opportunities.
Dr. Uduaghan observed that unemployment was a global challenge in the world and not only in Delta State and Nigeria but with the Delta beyond Oil initiative, Deltans are keying into the non-oil sector to become employed and employers of labour.
The Governor explained that the Delta beyond Oil initiative was designed for the economy of Delta State to be private-sector driven and ensure that unemployment was reduced to the barest minimum.
According to him, the scheme has started offering job opportunities for young graduates and entrepreneurs and in the future will guarantee sustainable means of livelihood by addressing the challenge of unemployment.
Governor Uduaghan, who is the visitor to the Delta State University, pleaded with governorship aspirants to go about their ambitions with all sense of responsibility and avoid acts and utterances capable of overheating the system.
The governor emphasized that he was not against the ambition of anyone but that as the chief security officer of the state he would not sit idle and allow any politician to temper with the peace and security in the state which his administration laboured hard to secure.
He assured that his administration would sustain the tempo of security activities in the state until every criminal and those with criminal intentions relocated from the state.
The Governor warned criminals and those with criminal intentions to be positively engaged because his administration, which has peace and security as the front burner of its three-point agenda, has no place for criminal elements, stressing that his government will not sleep until criminals are removed from all parts of Delta State.
Dr. Uduaghan thanked the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of the University, Mr Tony Elumelu for the transformation being witnessed in the University and his interest in investing and attracting investment to Delta State, noting that Elumelu has contributed immensely to the absorption of the unemployed by the private sector.
He also congratulated the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Eric Arubayi for effectively managing the affairs of the multi-campus institution for the past five years and also stamping out cultism from the school.
Mr. Elumelu at the occasion thanked Governor Uduaghan’s administration for his interest in the development of the education sector, disclosing that the Tony Elumelu Foundation was also in the vanguard of the development of the sector.
Professor Arubayi in his address had said that 8, 049 students obtained the bachelors degree and diploma certificate while 2,166 had Masters and doctoral degrees for the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 sessions.
Arubayi disclosed that the Delta State University through the unflinching support of the Visitor, His Excellency, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has successfully scaled through the accreditation of the National University Commission and with the result, the university has 93 per cent overall accreditation performance.
Delta State Government Press Release
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