By Ibrahim Ramalan
Abuja
As part of its resolve to give back to the host community, the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), a subsidiary of the NNPC, has graduated 150 youths in Kaduna in various vocational courses after six months of intensive training.
Managing Director of the company, Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, who spoke at the graduation ceremony, said the Youth Empowerment and Skill Acquisition Programme (YESAP VI) was part of the company’s social responsibility to its immediate host communities.
According to the MD, the company has in six years trained 675 jobless youths and equipped them to manage their lives and support their family members.
The MD said this has been the goal of the YESAP programme launched by KRPC in 2008, adding that “the company has been working with reputable consultants to ensure that young people in Kaduna State have the skills and economic opportunity to build productive lives and contribute to nation building.
“Arrangements are being concluded for KRPC to partner with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to assist graduands in business set up, monitoring and performance tracking and to assist those that are progressing in their respective trades to access credit facilities and other form of assistance,” he added.
He called on the communities to help in protecting the NNPC properties in their locality in order to for both enjoy the good relationship that exist between them.
Miss Mary Adams, who is a graduate of catering in an interview, revealed that apart from monthly stipend, beneficiaries also got starter kit, including 100,000 cash.
She thanked the KRPC for the programme, just as she called on the company to strive more to involve more youths and probably extend the gesture to young widowers, widows and orphans.
The 15 vocational courses include auto-welding and fabrication, plaster of paris, carpentry and woodwork, auto-mechatronic, auto-mechanic, auto-spray painting, fashion and textile design, screen printing, poultry and fishing among others.
