Guardian

THE Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC) South-East Zone, Onitsha graduated one hundred and three indigenes of Ebonyi State at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church Igbeagu, Ebonyi State recently.

The graduands were trained by EDC South-East Zone, Onitsha under the auspices of Adeline Advocacy for the Dignity of Destitute Foundation (AADODF). They were selected from different local government areas of the state for the six-week intensive training in Entrepreneurship Development, Basic Business Management, Leadership and Business Development Services.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Director of EDC South-East Onitsha, Prof. Chukwuemeka Uzoma Okoye who was represented by the Deputy Registrar of Centre for Entrepreneurship and Development Research (CEDR), University of Nigeria, Mrs. Obiamaka Nwala expressed gratitude to the founder and sustainer of AADODF, Mrs. Adeline Idike for her good gesture in sponsoring her people to benefit from the EDC project.

AADODF is a non-governmental organisation which has been involved in the fight against poverty and unemployment for the past 20 years. He challenged politicians, philanthropists, traditional rulers and other good spirited individuals to help their subjects to benefit from the EDC programme and by so doing reduce poverty and unemployment and at the same time guarantee their own security.

In her response, Idike said she was touched by the abject poverty of the majority of her people and took it as her God-given challenge. She thanked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the noble initiative. She also thanked the CEDR, University of Nigeria Nsukka for the good work it was doing through EDC Onitsha. She expressed her gratitude to Ebonyi State University under the leadership of her husband, Prof. Francis Idike for the support the university gave to AADODF to anchor the EDC training at Igbeagu.

The CBN Director of Development Finance, Mr. Paul Eluhaiwe who was represented by the Deputy Director of Finance, Mr. A. A. Adeleke thanked EDC Onitsha and AADODF for the great feat recorded at Ebonyi State. He charged the graduands to make good use of the knowledge they had acquired and ensure that they utilise and repay loans they must have received to grow their businesses.

Among the dignitaries that graced the occasion were the Honorable Commissioner for Commerce and Industry Ebonyi State, Dr. Ifeanyi Ikeh and his counterpart, the Honourable Commissioner for Economic Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation Mr. James Aroh Nweke. Both commissioners pledged to support AADODF in its advocacy for empowering the less privileged. They also promised to facilitate the funding of the graduands as well and assist the 2nd batch of trainees whose training would soon kick off.

The Chairman of Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission, Mr. John Nguda who chaired the occasion had in his remarks, extolled the efforts of AADODF, CBN and CEDR, UNN in collaborating to empower Nigerian youths. He advised the beneficiaries to make the effort worth the while. T

The graduands were issued their Certificate of Entrepreneurship Development Training at the occasion.

The EDC training was designed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to empower secondary school leavers and unemployed graduates to be self-employed and subsequently create employment for others. Centre for Entrepreneurship and Development Research (CEDR) University of Nigeria, Nsukka is the implementing agency of the EDC project in the South-East. EDC Onitsha has trained over 10, 000 persons since its inception in 2008. Those who have benefited from the EDC training include school leavers, unemployed graduates; retirees and about-to-retire persons; industrialists; entrepreneurs among others.