ANAMBRA State government has expressed its readiness to partner the Barrack Obama Leadership Fellows, to harness youth creativity and promote productivity.

Governor Willie Obiano said this when the Barrack Obama Leadership Fellows of Anambra extraction paid him courtesy visit at Governor’s Lodge, Amawbia.

He noted that his administration would develop a compendium of young Anambra entrepreneurs across various entrepreneurial ventures to further harness their creativity for wealth creation.

The governor explained that the Obama Leadership Forum was inaugurated by former US President Barrack Obama at the end of his tenure.

“The purpose is to fish out various identified leadership problems in Africa and offer lasting solutions to such problems.

“It has membership strength of 200 persons across the globe, out of which 22 persons are from Nigeria, with Anambra accounting for five representatives.

“The five are commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Mark Okoye, Miss Chinenye Nnoli, Mrs Uchenna Ugwu, Mr Ifeanyi Orajaka and Mr Bryan Mezue.

“They were all between ages 25 and 40 and specialised in various entrepreneurial skills,’’ Obiano said.

The governor, who received the delegation, expressed confidence in Anambra youths, whom he said had continued to display unprecedented skills and talents all over the world.

He stressed the need to properly harness the hidden talents in them for better solution for socio-economic challenges facing the state and the nation at large.

“We will retain the services of the group to form the nucleus of the Anambra State Creative Economy Team.

“This will help to expand our vision and dragnet to capture all Anambra entrepreneurs in a round table, to identify our societal problems and develop pragmatic modalities toward solving them,’’ Obiano added.

Okoye, commissioner for Economic Planning, said the forum was conceived by President Obama to address challenge of bad leadership, which had been identified as bane of Africa’s development.

He noted that the Obiano administration keyed into the positive global trend of effectively involving youths in governance.

Okoye added that the quotient which Anambra contributed to the Forum’s membership showed that there were abundant intellectual talents in the state and that government’s efforts to give room to their creativity.

Other members of the group took turns to speak on their experiences on activities of the forum and what they do individually to add value to the society.

– Aug. 1, 2018 @ 18:35 GMT |