The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello says the administration will reduce poverty through widening the scope of sustainable economic activities especially among youths in the territory.
Bello said this at a graduation ceremony of 28 trainees on carpentry business facilitated by the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA) on Monday in Abuja.
He said the administration would continue to implement policies and programmes for improved employment through training and empowerment of youth and women.
The minister, who was represented by FCT Education Secretary, Dr Bala Liman, said the administration had been training and empowering the youth to reduce unemployment.
Bello said: “although the issue of poverty is complex, as it is multidimensional but AEA is trying to ensure that those youths that do not have jobs get something to do.
“And once they set up their businesses, they will begin to employ more people, and fewer people will be on the unemployment scale, that means poverty will be gradually reduced.
“Tackling poverty is such a huge and herculean task, and it is not something that the FCTA can do in one or two years.
“It is a process whereby you put down policies and programmes, to ensure that in the long term, poverty is drastically reduced.
“That is why AEA as the flagship of the FCT Administration has always been receiving total support from the FCTA in trying to develop the youths in the FCT,’’ he said.
Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of AEA, Muhammad Arabi, said that the agency within three months successfully trained 28 aspiring entrepreneurs in carpentry, which was fully funded by the FCTA.
He urged relevant stakeholders to join hands with AEA to ensure that the trainees were adequately supported to succeed in the entrepreneurial world.
Arabi reiterated the commitment of the Agency towards reducing unemployment in the FCT through training and empowerment of residents.===NAN
