Cross River State government has pledged to prioritise skills, jobs and inclusion for young people as it marked the 2026 International Youth Day in Calabar, the state capital.
The state commissioner for Youth Development, Ijom Ukam, made the pledge wheh he spoke with newsmen yesterday in Calabar.
He said the state’s People-First Agenda can only be advanced through sustainable youth development.
Anchoring his address on the theme “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations: Advancing the People-First Agenda through Sustainable Youth Development,” the commissioner said the government is shifting from one-off empowerment to sustainable pathways to employment and enterprise.
He stated that while a youth in Akamkpa may face different realities from one in Calabar Municipal, their aspirations remain the same “opportunities, decent employment, relevant skills, access to finance” and inclusion in governance.
The commissioner explained that “Skills in the Hands Programme” designed to put practical, marketable skills in the hands of the youths and link them to livelihoods, and a paid internship scheme to address the “experience paradox where graduates are denied jobs for lack of experience.
He cited the partnership with the United Nations on the Nigerian Jubilee Fellowship Programme to expose Cross River youths to professional work environments.
The Commissioner said that inclusion remains central, stressing that youths must move “from beneficiaries to development partners” and be involved in conceiving, designing and evaluating programmes that affect them.
He therefore called on the private sector and development partners to provide more internships, apprenticeships and funding for youth-led enterprises, insisting that “investing in young people is not charity. It is economic and social investment.
