Beneficiaries of the 2021 Information and Communication Technology empowerment program organized by the Delta State Government have written to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to lament over an alleged abandonment by those who spearheaded the exercise.
In an open letter dated December 7, 2021, the over 600 beneficiaries commended the former lawmaker for his Smart Delta Agenda towards engagement of youths in entrepreneurial development in the state.
They however, exercised regret over the attempts of some ‘elements’ who are trying to sabotage the governor’s good repute towards wealth creation approaches by way of ‘greed, deep rooted corruption’ and ‘excuses.’
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The letter reads in full;
OPEN LETTER TO The Governor of Delta State,Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, by the participants of the 2021 ICT program.
Your Excellency Sir,
The wealth creation and empowerment initiative of your administration have been nothing but exceptional. Just as a mustard seed is sown, it has grown into a mighty oak bringing relief and support to thousands of Deltans.
it is like a roaring Canon that is being heard at the nooks and crannies of every state in Nigeria and have received a lot of accolades.
This initiative deserve a million commendation. On behalf of the thousands whose lives have been shaped positively, we say thank you sir.
The positive reviews of your initiatives made us to blindly go though rigorous pre entry examination requirements into the Science and Technology empowerment initiatives, trusting the government and the processes.
It is rather unfortunate that some elements are trying to sabotage your great wealth creation initiatives and bring it to disrepute via endless propaganda, insatiable greed, deep rooted corruption and trailer loads of flimsy excuses.
The ministry of Science and Technology is working tirelessly to drag your good name to the mud for their personal gains and greed by withholding our empowerment kits for months.
The empowerment kits was to help harness our skills and put to practise what we have learnt but it is such a shame that our dreams are being trampled upon by those who you trusted with the position to help harness our dreams and aspirations.
The program and his initiative was hijacked from it’s inception. The monthly stipends were deducted and paid in Cash, the last month stipends was not paid and the bags shared was of very very low quality. The training was also incomplete for most participants as their practicals was cancelled for no reasons. Most of the facilitators were also inexperienced.
Despite the shortfalls, our resilience made us push through as we were determined to be techpreneurs that will shape the state and by extension, Nigeria.
After the program, we reached out to the commissioner on several occasions for our employment kits and startup Capital but she has deploy all means to bully us to silence by bribing some of our colleague with cash in Warri and Asaba.
November end, we did planned a peaceful protest to the Government House; with some converging at the venue but once again it was sabotaged by the commissioner of science and technology with help from her colleagues.
Our demands are simple and plain Sir; we just need our starter packs and startup Capital to be able to thrive in our field as ICT skills demands daily computation, consistent coding and practises for it to be harnessed.
We understand that you have spent a lot of resources on our training and it will be unfair on your administration if such great efforts are wasted, just to enrich the facilitators of the programs and the personal pockets of those who are trying to sabotage your good name, without fulfilling the purpose of enhancing the ICT sector of Delta state.
We trust that you will address this issue with swiftness and put the vision you have for Delta youths right on track with your professionalism and good Governance. We wish you all the best in your tenure and thank you for all you are doing for Delta State.
