Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project Commences Skill Development for 5000 Ogoni Women and Youths

The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has commenced the training of five thousand Ogoni youths in Rivers State under its alternative livelihood programme whose sources of income were impacted by oil pollution.

The training of the five thousand youths took off with an orientation programme which was held in batches at the Khana Local Government Secretariat, Bori, Rivers State.

HYPREP PC, Prof. Nenibarini Zabbey hinted that the sustainable livelihood programme will train 5000 women and youths on 38 livelihood skill sets. According to Prof. Zabbey, this would translate to the economic rejuvenation of Ogoniland.

Prof. Zabbey speaking at the orientation, said: “Apart from environmental restoration, one key mandate of HYPREP is to restore livelihoods in Ogoni. So, this particular set of livelihood training is going to empower a critical mass of the Ogoni youth.”

The latest initiative from HYPREP highlights the growing awareness that every citizen should be equipped to contribute effectively to the welfare of the country. To effectively contribute to the welfare of the nation, people must be self-sufficient and acquire usable and marketable skills through programs.

Ogoni’s population is estimated to be 1.5 million people, with youth making up the largest majority. Therefore, technical education will ease the transition for Ogoni youths and lay the foundation for employable skills.

However, Professor Zabbey urged the other young people who applied but were not selected not to give up because there are opportunities in areas where civil construction is underway, such as remediation, shoreline clean-up, mangrove revegetation, and other megaprojects, and they may be involved in these.

Teaching school dropouts (youth) some industrial or commercial skills so they can support themselves is an obvious way to address the financial demands of society.  The general public, and the Ogoni people in particular, will benefit in two ways from this: first, it will address the social issue of youth unemployment; second, it will produce technicians and technologists who are essential to the advancement of industry, technology, and socioeconomic development.