By Our Correspondent

Agencies and parastatals charged with youth employment and empowerment programmes in Gokana LGA in Rivers State have been called upon to ensure that youths along with persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are not marginalized in government’s activities aimed at creating employment and empowerment for youths in the state.

Full view of participants during the meeting in Kpor in Gokana LGA.

The call was made in Port Harcourt recently when an NGO known as Centre for Environment Human Rights and Development, CEHRD led a Youth Network – Kpor Youth Leadership Network to pay a courtesy call on the caretaker chairman of Gokana LGA.

CEHRD’s staff who facilitated the advocacy visit on behalf of CEHRD and the networks explained to this publication that the meeting was part of a youth empowerment project being implemented in kpor, Gokana LGA, Marine Base, PHALGA and Okana, Abua/Odual LGA by the organization with support from Nigerian Stability and Reconciliation Program, NSRP which is aimed at reducing violence in the society through a reduction of unemployment.

During the visits, representatives of Kpor youth leadership network urged the chairman to strengthen the existing employment and empowerment processes to make them more transparent, accountable and Inclusive.

The chairman was told consult with the youths on issue that concerns them and to make sure that the system of using Rivers State National Youth Council and The Local Government officials to select beneficiaries for empowerment may continue to lead to abuse of the process and sabotage the essence of the programmes as the true beneficiaries may not be selected because the process may be unduly influenced.

The chairman was told to consider different channels of advertisement of their programmes, including mass media, to ensure that the information is widely disseminated.

The groups made case for special preferences to be given to physically challenged and other vulnerable members of the society as they may not be in position to compete favourably with others. The chairman of the Kpor youth leadership network also invited the chairman to the forthcoming Interactive session with youth leaders at the Gokana LGA hall on 23rd September 2016.

The chairman thanked the network for the visit and for their interest in building peace in the local government and state. He promised to put the suggestions made to them into consideration.

He promised to attend the interactive session and asked that the network should always visit and be in touch regularly with the local government as he will need to work with them to achieve the goal of a transparent, accountable and inclusive youth employment and empowerment programmes in Gokana LGA.