_{SOKOTO EXPENDS N500m ON YOUTH TRAINING}

Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State has said his administration expended more than 500 million Naira on the skills acquisition programme in the past one year.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Wamakko disclosed this at the weekend in Sokoto at the graduation of 1,213 youths who were trained under the programme.

The youths were trained in tailoring, hair dressing, computer appreciation, electrical/electronics, auto-mechanics, vulcanising and motorbike repairs.

NAN also reports that the governmentdistributed working tools worth more than 101 million Naira to the graduands as soft loans.

Similarly, they were given take off grants ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 Naira to enable them start small scale businesses.

Speaking on the occasion, Wamakko said that the programme was conceived to reduce the rate of unemployment in the state.

“This is part of our efforts to reduce the menace of youth restiveness due to unemployment and idleness,” he added.

Wamakko warned street urchins popularly called “area boys” to abandon the habit or face prosecution.

“You should seize the opportunities offered by the myriad of skills acquisition programmes and become self-reliant and be useful to yourselves and the society,” Wamakko added.

The governor also advised themto abandon such bad habits as street rascality, drug addiction and other crimes.