NIGERIAN Bottling Company (NBC) Limited has recently trained over 500 youths in Cross River State on life, business and networking skills, at its three-day workshop, tagged, ‘Youth Empowered Nigeria’.
The Youth Empowered initiative is aimed at addressing challenges of unemployment facing the nation’s youths.
Speaking at the opening session of the training in Calabar, the Public Affairs and Communications Director, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited, Ekuma Eze stated that the initiative is aimed at helping young people achieve their career ambitions and dreams, by providing guidance, support and assistance during their transition from school to meaningful employment
“We launched this initiative in October 2017 and we have reached eight cities so far. Youth Empowered has two broad modules; life and business skills. These are skills that young people are not taught in many Nigerian schools.
“The experience we have had in the eight cities we have reached so far show that these young people are talented, but they need some help in understanding the best way to accomplish their goals. They have ideas of how to move this country forward with bankable business ideas. They need someone to guide them in the right direction to be able to actualize their full potential” he added.
Ekuma further revealed that the program is a strategy by Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, to impact 1 million youths by 2025 across the 28 countries where it has its operations, with 100,000 of the youths coming from Nigeria, one of its biggest operational bases.
In his remarks, the representative of Obong of Calabar, who also doubles as the Assistant Secretary, Etubom Traditional Council, Chief Eyo Henshaw expressed the belief that the initiative would contribute greatly to improving the future of the youth and the economy of the state in general.