Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN), Ghana in collaboration with the National Youth Authority (NYA) has organized skills training for some selected young people in the Upper West Region.
The program was organized as part of MTNs 21 Days of Yello Care. The 2019 campaign was themed Creating a Brighter Future for our Youth.
Speaking at the closing ceremony in Wa for about 40 people who benefitted from the training, MTN Ghanas Territory Sales Controller for Upper West, Obed Adu-Amankwah admonished the beneficiaries to make good use of the skills to earn their keep.
He charged them to continue to sharpen their skills in order to become experts in fields that they were trained in.
The youth who received training in bead-making; make-ups and wig cups; online digital marketing and entrepreneurship were given start-up kits.
Mr. Adu-Amankwah stated: We trust that providing sustainable skills training to the youth in the informal sector, contributing to reducing youth unemployment and poverty, giving back to society as part of our corporate social responsibility and also providing mentorship and guidance to the youth among other objectives we set for ourselves have been duly me.
He announced that MTN Ghana had also collaborated with the Narcotics Control Board and Mental Health Authority to have a talk on substance abuse at Wa Senior High School (WASEC).
MTN Ghanas Territory Sales Controller for Upper West added that the event was attended by about 400 people made up of students, teaching and non-teaching staff of the School.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Operations and Programs, Bright Acheampong asked the youth to develop a spirit of volunteerism as a way of gathering experience.
He recalled that he volunteered in 2008 as one of the pitch coordinators when Ghana hosted the Cup of Nations.
He said: “I did not see it as weighty, I was in my final year at the University of Ghana, that material moment, I had a lot of my colleagues when they were been recruited, [turned down the offer],.. little did I know that out of volunteerism, I was exercising my leadership prowess and was on my way to becoming one of the leaders in future. … Mr. Acheampong intimated that many a time, peoples considerations are influenced by money, but quickly added that, life goes beyond money.”
He underlined the need for people to be job creators instead being job seekers and said, If the government give you job, the government can take it away from you, but if the government give you a skill it can never take it away from you till you die.
The Deputy CEO of NYA told the young people that they should choose a trade based on their passion, so the zeal will drive them to succeed. He underscored the necessity for them to utilize the social media to market the produce and skills.
Mr. Acheampong commended the Director in charge of Operations and Programs, Mumuni Sulemana for expertly handling the affairs of the programming department and the operational arrangements of the NYA.
Story by Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo
