The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has inaugurated a Board of Directors for the Edo State Skills Development Agency (ESSDA) to drive the next phase of development of the state’s job creation initiatives in order to attract the demand for and provide the supply of a highly skilled workforce in Edo State.
The board is chaired by the pioneer Managing Director of ESSDA, Mrs. Ukinebo Dare. Other members of the Board of Directors include; Mr. Victor Ehikhamenor International Visual Artist, photographer and writer, Mr. Victor Asemota, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Swifta Systems and Services, Ms. Ivie Temitayo, Head Employee relations at Sahara Group, Osarume Akenzua of West Africa Vocational Education, The current Managing Director of Edojobs, Mrs. Violet Obiokoro and Mrs. Caroline Ikuenobe as secretary to the board.
According to the governor, Edo State Skills Development Agency (Edojobs) was set up by the Edo State Government to “provide the supply of and attract the demand for highly skilled talent in Edo State”. The agency is a fulfillment of the mandate of our promise to Edo people to create 200,000 jobs in our first term in office. Mrs Ukinebo Dare and the team at Edojobs have delivered on this vision and exceeded the expectations and milestones in the last five years.
Obaseki noted that the vision was to go beyond job creation to unlocking the potentials of our youth by igniting the hope within them and ensuring that they could excel on their chosen career path.
The governor recounted that in 2016, an enumeration exercise was conducted for Edo citizens who were actively in search of jobs; this yielded over 200,000 entries during the enumeration exercise; and in 2017, Edojobs was officially launched. Since 2019, Edojobs had set up Edo Innovates Hub, Edo Production Centre, Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub and Soundstage, Edo Job Centres, Edo Food and Agricultural Cluster, Ehor; and many other programmes that have been actively connecting young people to jobs and building a formidable community which has brought hope and opportunity to over 270,000 of our industrious young people.
Edojobs became an agency in 2019 when it was signed into law, and Ukinebo Dare was appointed the pioneering Managing Director of the agency. According to His Excellency, “this allowed us as an administration to strengthen the programme and expand the work exponentially”. We are proud of the work that the Edo State Skills Development Agency has done and we are confident about the strategy we have for the future. We are also grateful to our national and international partners that have joined their hands on the plough to promote job creation and sustainable livelihoods for residents of Edo State, he added.
Ukinebo Dare who has passed on the mantle of leadership to her successor, Mrs Violet Obiokoro been appointed along with other industrious edolites in the Tech, Arts and Culture, Skills Development and Employment Promotion sectors. The board is setup to focus on sustainability and expansion of the work that has been done by Edojobs across the different senatorial districts of the state in various areas such as technology, agriculture, urban and rural area inclusiveness, gender mainstreaming, job placement, institutional strengthening and so on.
“Furthermore, this team will advise me on more ways to position the state to deliver and strengthen more job creation initiatives to be made available to youth in the state.
Some international organizations that are already in partnership with Edo State Skills Development Agency in this regard include The German Government through GIZ, IOM, Amazon, Microsoft, and a host of others.
Click here to discover the first 5 years of impact at Edo State Skills Development Agency.
