Governor Mai Mala Buni is set to empower 1,085 youths with data collection and survey administration skills as the Yobe State Renewed Hope Ward Development Program, RHWDP, begins a Training of Trainers ahead of the beneficiaries targeting and enrolment exercise across 178 wards in the state’s 17 Local Government Areas.
The training forms part of preparations for the rollout of RHWDP, a pro poor initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, aimed at stimulating grassroots economic development through the empowerment of at least 1,000 economically active individuals in every political ward nationwide.
Officials explained that the success of the program depends largely on leadership and commitment at the sub national level, where policies are translated into action and beneficiaries are identified.
In Yobe State, Governor Buni has demonstrated this commitment by providing critical support for the early operationalisation of the program, even ahead of its full national rollout.
Beyond directing all relevant stakeholders to support the State Coordination Office in ensuring an equitable, inclusive, and consultative process for identifying and targeting beneficiaries, the Governor approved the engagement and training of young people as field enumerators.
According to the coordination office, the trained youths will support technology enabled data collection to ensure a transparent, credible, and accountable enrolment process that reflects local realities across communities.
Against this backdrop, the Yobe State RHWDP Coordination Office organised a one day Training of Trainers for Local Government Area coordinators to prepare them for supervising the data collection and enrolment exercise.
The training is designed to build a pool of skilled data collectors and survey administrators, while also creating employment opportunities for the state’s growing youth population.
Governor Buni has further reaffirmed his commitment to youth empowerment by directing that unemployed youths should be prioritised as primary beneficiaries of RHWDP, based on the socioeconomic context of Yobe State.
Other economic groups targeted under the program include smallholder farmers, petty traders, and owners of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, nationwide across rural and urban communities.
