Accident Prevention (ESCAP) for commercial motorcycle (okada) riders in the FCT Area Councils.
President of CEDECOM, Engr. Prosper Okafor, said at the flagging off of the exercise yesterday in Karu that the programme is meant to assist the FCT Administration, security agencies and the public to tackle the menace of Okada riders in the FCT.
“ESCAP programme will provide over 1,000 modest jobs and employment opportunities for unemployed Nigerians living in FCT. We are conducting a three-day recruitment screening/test for the first batch of 150 field officers. The programme shall also build the capacity of Okada riders in numerous vocational and technical areas to enable them drop motorcycle riding and step-up to other less risky, more lucrative trades and handiworks.
“The cyclists shall be trained in numerous areas including banking and target savings, bricklaying and masonry works, metal and fabrication, panel beating and painting, GSM and computer repairing, crop and livestock farming and other vocational and technical skills. We are all aware of the growing statistics of unemployment. This cannot be addressed overnight or by government alone,” Okafor said.
He said the ESCAP programme has been pre-tested in Karu Zone covering Nyanya, Karu, Jikwoyi, Kurudu, Orozo and Karshi communities and environs between November 2012 and January 2013 and that the experiences, issues and challenges garnered at the exercise would be utilised across the area councils.
He also said there are arrangements with three banks to facilitate the planned Biometric Data capturing to provide security coded ID cards, reflective vests and emblems among others and that there is collaborative efforts with the government and security agencies on the programmes.
