Rivers State Administrator, Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.), has said his administration is placing equal priority on human capital development and infrastructural growth, noting that true development goes beyond physical projects.
Ibas made the remark on Wednesday in Port Harcourt while declaring open a 30-day fully residential Vanguard Initiative on Behavioural Modification Programme for youths. He was represented at the event by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibibia Worika.
“As a government, we are not only building bridges, schools, and hospitals, we are also building human capital,” Ibas said. “Real development is measured not just in roads and bridges but in trained minds, disciplined hearts, and willing hands.”
He explained that the Vanguard Initiative seeks to equip young people with knowledge and character, stressing that behavioural re-orientation is critical to raising productive citizens. According to him, the programme will help youths resist peer pressure, avoid drugs and violence, and embrace skills that prepare them to compete globally.
The administrator urged participants to take the training seriously, expressing confidence that they would emerge as employers of labour and agents of positive change.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Development, Mrs. Ruhuoma Kejeh, said the Behavioural Modification Training (BMT) was developed with the understanding that re-orientation must precede skills acquisition.
She explained that the Ministry had created a youth development framework known as Train To Engage (TTE) to ensure participants are not only trained but also engaged and supported in applying their skills.
“The hard truth is that skills alone are not enough. Without a renewed mindset and positive behavioural change, skills cannot translate into sustainable livelihoods. That realisation gave birth to the BMT,” she said.
Kejeh disclosed that the Ministry would soon engage Skills Masters to provide training in Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), shoe and bag making, digital pattern design in the fashion industry, and agrobusiness ventures.
