By Ovat Abeng
In line with governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo’s agenda for youth development in Anambra State through skills acquisition and vocational training which is anchored on One youth, Two skills program, the Nnewi Youth Forum has launched the 2026 (Second edition) of the Nnewi Youth Mega Empowerment Scheme to compliment the governor’s effort in addressing the challenges of youth idleness in Nnewi and the state at large.
The project is a N250 million annual training with a start-up grant of N1 million for each deserving youth from Nnewi, spread in five batches.
The aim is to produce a new generation of skilled self-employed youths and manpower in Nnewi for human capital development and socio-economic upliftment of Nnewi and Anambra State.
The program is sponsored by Chief Ifeanyi Ekwulugwo of Iycon Charity Foundation in conjunction with Nnewi Youth Forum headed by Hon Ejim Ucheagwu and the Anglican Diocese of Nnewi Vocational and Technical Academy under Rt Rev Ndubuisi Obi, the Bishop of Nnewi Anglican Diocese.
At the elaborate event which took place on Sunday, March 29, 2026 at Igwe Nnewi palace, the Chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area, Hon Echezona Anazodo represented by Engr Jude Nwachukwu commended Iycon Foundation, Nnewi Youth Forum and the Nnewi Anglican Diocese for engendering a partnership that is already impacting a generation of youths adding that the Anambra State governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo has set the pace for all round development of the state with premium on provision of skills and tools for youth engagement.
“I thank Chief Ekwulugwo, Iycon, for his commitment to the success of Soludo regime and for devoting humongous personal resources to human capital development such as this.
He is a philanthropist of immense value.
“We are proud of him”. Speaking further, he said, “The Nnewi Youth Forum has grown in leaps and bounds since the assumption of office as President by Hon Ejim Ucheagwu, who is popularly known as Bishop. We appreciate his leadership skills, creativity, and resultant transformation of the youth body, which in turn has generated this renewed enthusiasm and impactful socio-economic benefits to the youths in particular and Nnewi North in general”. He concluded by paying tribute to the Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Nnewi, Rt Rev Ndubuisi Obi, for his vision in providing the much needed technical backbone for the project.
Earlier, the President of Nnewi Youth Forum, Hon Ejim Ucheagwu, who expressed immense pleasure at the overwhelming success recorded with the first edition of the program held in 2025, welcomed the guests with open arms. He said, “We warmly welcome the Mayor of Nnewi-North, Hon Echezona Anazodo. We are witnesses to his scintillating performance as Executive Chairman of Nnewi-North. His support for Nnewi youths has been awesome, and he will continue to enjoy our support as always”
He also said, “This project is a flagship empowerment scheme for Nnewi Youths, singlehandedly sponsored by Chief Ifeanyi Ekwulugwo, the founder of Iycon Charity Foundation and this is the second edition.
“We successfully completed the first edition and thankfully, Chief Ifeanyi Ekwulugwo has decided to bankroll it as an annual event for five years. From the feedbacks so far, the impact of this project will leave indelible marks on the sand of time and without the dedication and magnanimity of the Iycon boss, this milestone would not have been achieved”.
Speaking further, he said, “I thank our governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo for his vision, developmental strides and Youth engagement which provided the concept that birthed this empowerment scheme and to My Lord Bishop Ndubuisi Obi, I must thank you for supporting us with the technical partnership of the Vocational Academy that ensures thorough training and preparation of the participants”.
The Anglican Bishop of Nnewi Diocese, Rt Rev Ndubuisi Obi, who was represented by the Rector of the Academy, Rev Engr Prince Igwe, in his speech said, “I am happy to be part of this life changing efforts of Iycon Charity Foundation and the Nnewi Youth Forum. The zeal and dedication of the Youth President, Ejim, convinced me from the onset that the program will be successfully seen through. I commend Chief Ifeanyi Ekwulugwo for keeping faith in building a new generation of skillfully empowered youths in Nnewi. May God reward him bountifully. “
One of the beneficiaries, Lotanna Aghamelu, who spoke on behalf of other beneficiaries of the first edition said, “I was trained in ICT, Software and Hardware, and this program has changed my life for the best. I am now self-employed with good earnings from my ICT skills. I am the one that designed the application portal for this second edition of the empowerment program and I am extremely grateful to Chief Ifeanyi Ekwulugwo, the Nnewi Youth Forum and our President, Hon Ejim Ucheagwu as well, for finding me and numerous other youths worthy of this window of lifetime opportunity “.
On his part, Hon John Ejizu, the Chairman of Iycon Charity Foundation, who represented the founder, Chief Ifeanyi Ekwulugwo said, the biggest joy of Chief Ifeanyi Ekwulugwo is investing in young minds and seeing them succeed, contributing to the progress of the society.
On behalf of Chief Ifeanyi Ekwulugwo, I commend our governor for the unequaled foundational progress that he has made in governance of Anambra State.
