The first series of capacity building workshop on institutional development for senior management staff of the Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau has ended with a call on participants to align themselves with the mandate of the newly created bureau.

The Chief Job and Wealth Creation Officer, Prof Eric Eboh, made the call while making his closing remark during the last day of the first series of the capacity building workshop held in the Conference Hall of the bureau in Asaba.

Prof Eric said the workshop was planned to set the right foundation for a vibrant institution, urging the staff to realign themselves with the mandate of the newly created job and wealth creation bureau.

He explained that putting strategic plan in motion would leave a legacy for him and the organization even after the end of the present administration. According to him, “It will not be complimentary for this organization as an establishment to exist in the next two years without a strategic plan. For me, as the head of the organization, that is one important legacy having had the law passed, signed and gazetted, we need a strategic plan which will incorporate all, whether it is resource mobilization, performance or institutional, giving the roadmap which is the compass for this organization. I am trying to set our minds that this is just the beginning for this whole process. We are in for a legacy journey. I will be very happy when I leave as the Chief Job and Wealth Creation Office, I will be at peace and highly fulfilled as a professional handing over this legacy document for the organization to whoever takes over from me.”

Going down the memory lane, he recounted that the office was first established as the Office of the Chief Job and Wealth Creation Officer, but was institutionalized and became the Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau.

“It began with three flagship programmes namely the Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP); the Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP); Graduate Employment Enhancement Programme (GEEP.) We are implementing our sixth cycle with over 5,000 youths trained and established in the past five years,” he added. 

He maintained that stakeholders’ interest in the institutionalization of the bureau gave rise to an executive bill which was sent to the Delta State House of Assembly, passed and consequently assented to by the Government on the 5th of September, 2019.  

While pointing out that the bureau is fulfilling its mandate of designing, planning and executing job and wealth creation programmes; he emphasized that the capacity building workshop would help to leave a lasting institutional legacy in the bureau years to come.

He listed the topics taken so far in the extended capacity workshops as Strategic planning and Project Management Culture; Customer Service and Service Delivery; Leadership and Teamwork, and Performance Measurement.

A Development Programme Specialist and the Resource Person, Mr. Emmanuel Uche in his lecture entitled, “Performance Measurement” commended the Chief Job and Wealth Creation Officer, for the success recorded in the programme, saying, “The Transformation that has taken place in the bureau shows a drum of hard work. The stories of the success rates as being widely told are indicators that other states would likely replicate the job creation model soon.” 

By Gertrude Onyekachukwu-Uteh