The African Union Development Agency–New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), in partnership with the Nasarawa State Government, has commenced the training of 200 youth, widows, and vulnerable people across the state in various skill acquisition programmes.
The six-week training, which began on Wednesday, aims to equip participants with practical knowledge in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), baking and pastries, tailoring, aluminium fabrication, arc welding, domestic electrical installation, barbing, and hairdressing, among others.
Speaking at the opening ceremony in Lafia, the Nasarawa State Coordinator of AUDA-NEPAD, Mohammed Sameel, explained that the 200 beneficiaries were carefully selected from the 13 Local Government Areas of the state to ensure inclusiveness and equal opportunity.
He said, “The idea behind establishing AUDA-NEPAD is to make sure that Africa as a continent can stand boldly and compare itself with any other continent in the world. The aim is to continue to empower Africans with relevant skills and other forms of support to improve their livelihoods.”
Sameel noted that the beneficiaries would be trained in two batches of 100 participants each to allow trainers to properly impact knowledge. He described the initiative as part of AUDA-NEPAD’s framework for the development of Africa.
“It is a framework for the development of Africa, and this was conceived by a few African countries and then later on adopted by the African Union. AUDA-NEPAD talks about development, poverty eradication, women empowerment, youth and skill acquisition, and other related issues,” he said.
He added that the six-week training would hold four days a week and encouraged beneficiaries to take the programme seriously, as it would provide them with the opportunity to start their own businesses and become employers of labour in Nigeria.
“The reason for the training is that we want the beneficiaries to be able to have their own businesses and be employers of labour in Nigeria. That way, we will be removing so many people from the streets who are roaming around because they do not have skills or jobs. So, I will plead that the beneficiaries take this course seriously,” Sameel said.
He also warned that trainees who fail to maintain punctuality and commitment during the programme would not be allowed to graduate. According to him, a monitoring and evaluation team had been set up to track the beneficiaries’ progress throughout the six-week period.
The State Coordinator commended the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, and the Executive Director of the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Technology Institute, Lafia, Daniel Asele, for their continuous support in empowering the youth, widows, and vulnerable individuals with useful skills to make them relevant in society.
In his address, the Executive Director of the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Technology Institute, Lafia, Daniel Asele, said the training is designed to engage young people and vulnerable groups in productive ventures that would help reduce crime and unemployment in the country.
Asele said, “I was made to understand that this programme is meant to train 200 youth, women and the vulnerable. It is segmented in two ways. You are the first set, this one involves 100 of you, immediately you finish, another 100 will come in and this thing will span from now to January next year.”
He explained that the beneficiaries would receive starter packs and seed money at the end of their training to enable them to purchase necessary equipment and establish their own businesses.
“When you are trained here and at the end, I was made to understand that you will be given a starter pack, I mean you will be given seed money to go and buy your equipment to start with. So when you establish your business, put into practice the skills you are going to acquire here, it is expected that you will also employ some other persons to work with you, and to learn the skills with you. It has a very high multiplier effect,” he said.
Earlier, the Head of Department, Project Development and Implementation of AUDA-NEPAD in the state, Adi Hamza, thanked the Nasarawa State Government for its people-oriented policies that have continued to support empowerment and poverty reduction initiatives.
Hamza urged the beneficiaries to show seriousness and commitment throughout the six-week training period. He emphasized that the goal of the programme was to make participants employers of labour and contributors to the socio-economic growth and development of Nasarawa State and Nigeria as a whole.