The Plateau State Government has earmarked ₦2 billion in a supplementary budget to boost youth empowerment through skills training and entrepreneurship programmes.
The Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Musa Ashoms, disclosed this on Monday at the flag-off of a new batch of trainees under the Plateau Youth Entrepreneurship and Skills Acquisition scheme, in partnership with the Federal Government’s Skills for Wealth initiative, held at Lamingo, Jos North LGA.
Ashoms said the funds would support youth development across agribusiness, ICT, and the creative industry, noting that Plateau was positioning itself as an emerging hub for digital technology.
‘As a Ministry, we have requested the House of Assembly to approve ₦2 billion for youth empowerment across sectors. In ICT, for instance, we want Plateau to become a hub.
‘That’s why Governor Caleb Mutfwang has donated the Joseph Gomwalk House as an ICT centre, while the Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy has committed to laying 30km of fibre optic cables across the state’, he said.
He explained that 250 youths from the state’s 17 LGAs will benefit from the current training, which covers ICT, fashion design, leatherwork, shoemaking, and bag production. The one-month programme will run in two batches between 1 and 30 September 2025.
Ashoms stressed that the government was deliberate about empowering young people for wealth creation, describing the initiative as ‘intentional and strategic’.
The Zonal Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, Deborah Pitmang, added that the training was strictly focused on skills acquisition, with beneficiaries expected to receive start-up kits after completion.
Some participants lauded the initiative.
‘This is a very good programme. With the ICT training, it will open our eyes to opportunities in the digital world’, said one of the trainees, John Davou.
