No fewer than 5,000 youths from the six pioneering member states of the National Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC) are to receive skills acquisition starter packs soon.
The Managing Director of the commission, Abubakar Sadiq Yelwa, disclosed this during a stakeholders meeting on Sustainable Youth Development Programmes in the Modern Era, held with Commissioners of Youth and Sports Development and Chairmen of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) of member states of the commission, which took place at the commission's headquarters in Minna on Tuesday.
Alh. Yelwa said that the commission has concluded necessary arrangements for the distribution of the starter packs to the beneficiaries, pointing out that commissioners of youths from the six pioneer states as well as the chairmen of the NYCN of the member states were to be engaged in the arrangements for the distribution.
According to him, the involvement of the commissioners was to ensure the success of the distribution of essential equipment to the beneficiaries.
The Managing Director of N-HYPPADEC, however, said that the commission decided to empower the youths through skills acquisition training in various vocations as a result of unemployment, which he identified as one of the major factors that adversely affected the lives of youths in the power-producing areas of the country.
He further said that unemployment has also been promoting violence and all sorts of crimes, insecurities, and delinquency, hence the need for the commission to train them in order to keep them off the streets and distribute starter packs after their training, which spanned between three and six months.
Speaking on the breakdown of the beneficiaries among the six member states, the managing director disclosed further that 1,515 youths from Niger State benefited from the training, while Kebbi has 1,070, Kwara has 1,814, Kogi has 625, Benue has 671, and Plateau has 308.
The first edition of the training, according to him, included fashion design and tailoring, house painting, brick laying, plumbing, flooring, photograraphy, hair barbing and styling, auto mechanics, and electrical engineering.
The plan for the take-off of the second edition of empowerment and job creation, which will last for one to three years, will target advanced skills such as laptop and phone repairs, solar power installation, and CCTV camera installation, among others.
A total of about 12,030 candidates were alleged to have involved in various forms of examination malpractices in 2023 Senior Secondary Examination (SSCE) conducted by the National Examination Council (NECO) the Registrar and Chief Executive of the council Prof. Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi has disclosed.
He stated that the 2023 internal examination malpractices was against 13, 500 recorded in 2022.
He revealed further that 52 supervisors were also recommended to be blacklisted as a result of poor supervision, and aiding and abetting malpractice during the conduct of 2023 examination.
Prof. Wushishi, who made the disclosure at a news briefing to announce the release of the 2023 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) result, held at the NECO Headquarters in Minna on Tuesday, said 93 schools and supervisors were found to have been involved in whole school mass cheating.
He explained that the affected erring schools and the supervisors will be invited by the council for further discussion, after which appropriate sanctions will be applied accordingly.
According to the Registrar, a total of 1,205,888 registered for the examination representing 621,084 males and 584,804 females, while a total of 1,196,985, representing 616,398 males and 580,587 females sat for the exams; out of which 737,308 candidates made five credits and above in both English and Mathematics.
Prof Dantani Wushishi stated that 12,030 (0.7 percent), were involved in various examination frauds against the 13,594 (0.13 percent) candidates involved 2022.
He explained that the 2023 NECO SSCE internal examination has been certified the best in recent times while appreciating the Federal Ministry of Education and the Minister for the support received which he said contributed immensely for the success recorded.
He disclosed that Abia state was leading with the best performing results of the year 2023, scoring 85 percent while Yobe State took the bottom with 59 percent, as released officially to the general public.
