The Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), a subsidiary of NNPC has commenced the training of about 150 youths drawn from the host communities under the sixth edition of the Youth Empowerment and Skill Acquisition Programme (YESAP).
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director of the Company, Engr. Saidu Aliyu Mohammed said that the company was committed to improving the standard of living of its host community through the execution of various projects of which YESAP was one.
According to him, the Nigerian society was driven by the desperation to acquire certificates, pointing out that the KRPC YESAP is deliberately designed to steer the youths away from that and concentrate on embedding demonstrable skills that are marketable and self-sustaining into the future.
The Executive Director, Services of the company, Idi Mukhtar disclosed that so far, about 528 youths drawn from the host community have so far been trained under the programme, pointing out that this year’s edition has significantly been improved upon.
According to him, “it is the firm resolve of the management of the company to ensure that youth unemployment with the attendant negative impact on peace, security, economic and social activities are reduced significantly especially within the host communities.”
He said in improving on the previous editions of the programme, the recommendations of the Joint Community Relations Committee towards improving the quality of participation in the programme among others have been put into effect.
Mukhtar said that participants were increased from 120 in the last edition to 150 this year despite the present harsh economic climate which has forced most presumably buoyant organisations to suspend or cancel their community relations projects or at the best, down size them.
