By Ogenyi Ogenyi,Uyo
Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Monday in Uyo officially launched the ARISE Human Capital Development Strategic Plan for Akwa Ibom, the first state in the nation to localize the HCD vision.
At the ceremony in Uyo, Shettima commended Governor Umo Eno for his leadership vision and urged other states to emulate Akwa Ibom.
The VP who highlighted the importance of HCD in the development of any nation emphasized that the true wealth any nation is dependent on the education of her people, the health of it citizens and the productivity of it workforce.
“Every policy or programme that intervenes in the lives of our people can only succeed if it is rooted in the grassroots. This gathering testifies to that, and I share in the joy of the good people of Akwa Ibom State for the promise of the day.
“This is a declaration that true wealth of any nation lies in the certainly of it human capital development, the education of it people, the health of it citizens and the productivity of it workforce
“And what has brought us here to Uyo, the launch of the ARISE human capital development strategic plan by Governor Umo Eno is a template for states of the federation. It is a strategy that we cannot build without a solid foundation.
“What Akwa Ibom has assured us here is not just progress but core leadership. It has become the first state in the nation to localize the HCD vision in it square point.
“Akwa Ibom has taken the bold steps by adopting it at all levels of local government areas. I urge other states to emulate Akwa Ibom State” Shettima said.
In his remarks, Eno explained that human capital development became imperative due to the paucity of trained manpower to address the challenges the world and Nigeria faced in the aftermath of COVID- 19.
The Governor said it became necessary and proper for the State Government to strengthen individual and institutional capacities to rise in real time to confront future pandemics.
According to him,”Human Capital Development Plan apart from the the above key area is also designed to expansively provide key human-centric projects such as; healthcare services which we are currently executing through our investments in the construction and equipping of primary healthcare centres.
“The provision of quality education at both the primary and secondary levels with the construction and equipping of model primary schools.
“The planned construction of model secondary schools in three senatorial districts; the empowerment of our people, and equipping them with requisite skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world.
“This, we have done with the establishment of Ibom Leadership and Entrepreneurial Development Centre, which today, has trained over 4, 000 people with start-up grants ranging from N5, 000, 00-N750, 000.
“The Dakkada Skills Acquisition Centre (DASAC), where we recently graduated over 400 trainees in various areas of marketable and entrepreneurial skills-set.
“These 400 graduands who were trained in areas such as ICT, mechanised agriculture, carpentry, fashion design, tourism etc will be further exposed to additional trainings by IBOM-LED in entrepreneurial and other critical skillset.” He said.
The Governor commended the administration of President Bola Tinubu for this critical initiative, stressing that the President does not play politics with development.
He said the State was highly appreciative of the Federal Government for selecting Akwa Ibom as the first to the launch of the programme.
“We are thrilled that our State was selected as the first for the launch of this program. This has further reinforced the fact that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, does not play politics with development and this we deeply appreciate.” He said.
In her goodwill message, Mrs Nkechi Obi, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Techno Oil Limited said that there could not be any meaningful development of any society without a deliberate actionable roadmap to address the critical challenges militating against human capital d
