…Targets 2,000 youths for employment
William Attah, Gombe
Gombe State Government says it is determined to end the activities of the dreaded restive ‘Yankalare’ youths used by politicians against their opponents in the State.
Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya made the commitment yesterday at the Gombe State NYSC Orientation Camp, Amada, during the commencement of a two weeks induction and training of 500 youths for the Gombe State Security, Traffic and Environmental Corps (GOSTEC).
He said, “GOSTEC is a home-grown innovation aimed at harnessing the energies of our youths in state building, in line with our human capital development initiative”.
Politicians in Gombe State are known to harbour and make use of the ‘Yankalare’ political thugs against opponents during campaigns and other political activities, but Governor Inuwa said, ” the menace of using our youth in political thuggery and criminality for the selfish interest of politicians will not be condoned by this administration.
“We remain determined to end the ‘Kalare’ in Gombe State inshaAllah”, he vowed.
He reiterate his administration’s commitment towards bringing an end to youth restiveness through innovative approaches by providing them with necessary skills to engage in decent jobs and cater for themselves, their families and the society at large.
He said, “we are witnessing the induction of 500 GOSTEC trainees as no fewer than 2,000 youths will be engaged by the state government in collaboration with the At-Risk Children Project (ARC-P).
“These youths will be posted across all the 11 LGAs to serve as Traffic, Security or Environmental Superintendents in our communities”, he explained.
He explained further that GOSTEC is a squad of Gombe youth, nominated from all over the eleven LGAs of the State, selected and to be trained to shoulder the responsibilities of enforcing relevant traffic, security and environment laws in collaboration with statutory agencies to ensure a safe, clean and decent environment.
He then urged the youths undergoing the training to work hard, uphold their knowledge for good practice and training, remain focused and be good ambassadors of the administration’s effort towards improving human capital development.
Speaking earlier, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Human Capital Development, Sani Ahmed Haruna, said the 500 youths to be trained was just the first batch as more will come on board.
According to him, the training is another history making of mopping the most energetic youth out of the streets and to be used positively to contribute to the peaceful coexistence of Gombe State.
He said, “GOSTEC Corps will be trained through examination, mastery of a variety of topics that include: physical security, crime scenes, emergency and safety procedures, physical fitness, use of force, workplace violence, environmental crime control, investigations, traffic and crowd control, legal aspects and report”.
Managing Director of Bulwark Solutions and Allied Services Limited, the resource firm for the training, Wing Commander Ibrahim Sarki, said the course was deliberately designed to train and task the youths to serve as enforcement agents for the security, safety and smooth running of business in Gombe State.
He said the youths will be equipped with skills to manage both human, animal and vehicle traffics; Secure human and critical assets; Protect the immediate and natural environments as well as complement other security agencies, when the need arises.
He said the program shall be through lectures, video clips, out door demonstrations, exercises and indept analysis on common security breaches.
