Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has commended the World Bank for partnering with the state government on various projects and programame, which had engaged over 700 youths in the state.

The governor gave the commendation on Thursday when a team of World Bank, European Union and Federal Government officials visited him in Asaba.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team was in the state to assess the level of implementation of State Employment and Expenditure For Results (SEEFOR) projects.

He said though huge employment gaps still exist in Nigeria, partnering with the Banks and other private sectors had positively impacted the youths in the country.

“We thank the World Bank for the efforts, but there are still very big gaps in our country.

“We know that partnering with the private sector as a state would help us to find other means of addressing the gaps still existing in the area of youth unemployment.

“Once we are able to bridge the gap, we would be able to achieve and sustain the security and peace that we have in the state,” he said.

He said that the youths engaged in the programme were in line with his administration’s commitment to make the youths job creators through different youths employment and wealth creation programmes of the state.

“We are happy with the partnership between World Bank and the European Union, we are happy that the youth empowerment component is working in Delta State as over 700 youths have been trained and empowered through this partnership.

“Most of the youths are now standing on their own, and we hope that this collaboration will continue to improve by the day,” Okowa said.

Earlier, the World Bank team leader, Mr Brar Parminder lauded the governor on his administration’s achievement and for ensuring that the SEEFOR projects were successful in the state.

He, however, said that they were in the state on inspection visit to the SEEFOR projects.

He expressed satisfaction with the success stories of the SEEFOR programmes in the state.