Adopt YEP Model to Solve Youth Unemployment, N’Delta  Govts Urged

Sunday Okobi

A group, Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), has urged state governments in the Niger Delta region to adopt the Youth Employment Pathways (YEP) model to address youth unemployment in the region.

PIND’s Programme Director, Dr. Effiong Essien, stated this recently during the grant signing ceremony for the second year of the YEP project in Delta State.

Twelve implementing organisations signed grant agreements to train 785 youths in technical and soft skills in agriculture, ICT, construction (and renewable energy), and services (catering, fashion designing, finished leather).

Explaining the YEP model, Effiong said: “At PIND, we have a unique approach towards training the youth on entrepreneurship. We strengthen the ecosystem of skills development actors, demand-driven technical and vocational training, labour market analysis for job opportunities, and enterprise development. We also focus on investment initiatives in innovative and qualitative training that prepare youth with market-relevant skills and support and transition into wage employment or entrepreneurship.”

PIND’s Executive Director, Dr. Tunji Idowu, affirmed that the YEP model was one of the region’s best secrets. He said it was effective and provided relevant skills.

According to him, “Adopting the YEP model will boost vocational and technical education skills in the Niger Delta,” he said. “States should get on board and tackle the youth unemployment rate in the country using the model.”

PIND said, since 2018, the YEP model has responded to unemployment challenges in the Niger Delta using a demand-driven approach to youth skills development and job placement. The organization also said there is a need to constantly engage the state governments to innovatively and sustainably address unemployment gaps in the region using the YEP model.

Essien said: “We cannot do without the government. The state governments are key stakeholders in providing youth skill development and employment in states. Adopting the YEP model will significantly address youth unemployment challenges in the Niger Delta.”