The Central Regional Minister, Mr Kwamena Duncan, has admonished the youth not to allow the extremes of life challenges to influence them to engage in acts that will derail their future.

According to him, challenges and difficulties in life were not obstacles to personal development, but to embolden them with practical life experiences to pursue their aspirations in life with determination.

“Life must not be that smooth, there must be challenges. It is the challenges that will make your neck hard and capable of carrying heavy loads. It also prepares you for the task ahead,” he added.

Mr Duncan gave the admonition at the end of a three months Online Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship Training Programme organised by the Central Regional Office of the National Youth Authority (NYA) in Cape Coast on Thursday.

About 300 youth from various districts in the Region participated in the training programme and upon successful completion, were presented with customised data loaded Huawei tablets to help start their online marketing.

The programme, projected to create jobs for about 3,000 jobless youths nationwide, aimed at equipping beneficiaries with relevant technology-driven entrepreneurial skills that could be applied on the internet, especially social media for marketing of products and services.

Mr Duncan said the move by the NYA to train the youth in digital marketing was a step in the right direction in that the World had moved to a digital age where effectiveness and efficiency was assured.

He further cautioned them to stay away from cyber fraud and all other forms of internet fraud and focus on the positives of the internet and it positive effects to help them develop their lives and their communities.

“Remember that Rome was not built in a day. Step by step, work hard and commit in a genuine way to your businesses. There is no short cut to Heaven. The shortcut will not end well for you,” he cautioned.

He congratulated the participants on the successful completion of the programme and urged them to further upgrade the skills acquired to boost their employability on the job market if they decided to apply for jobs.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NYA, Mr Emmanuel Sin-Nyet Asigri indicated that due to the large interest shown in the programme by the youth, another batch would be rolled out in July for the youth in Ghana to take advantage of the digital World.

He admonished the participants to act as pioneers of the programme and encouraged them to put to good use the knowledge and skills acquired.

“The relationship between the participants and the NYA doesn’t end here, we look forward to a cordial working relationship with all of you,” he said.

The District Chief Executive for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam (AEE) District, Mr Ransford Kwesi Nyarko commended the government for the training programme, adding that, it was a timely intervention for people with various handiworks to showcase their talents to the world and urged the participants to work assiduously to justify their training.