Engagement of more youths in skills acquisition programmes has been identified as the most enduring solution in tackling poverty and increasing unemployment rate, due to the economic downturn in the country, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ogun State Deputy Governor, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, who made this known in her address at the closing ceremony of the 2020 National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP), at the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Abeokuta Area Office, said it is sacrosanct that not all unemployed youths would get white-collar jobs, hence the need to acquire vocational skills.
Engr. Salako-Oyedele noted that the Prince Dapo Abiodun led administration launched the Ogun Jobs portal, where organisations were given opportunities to seek for employable and underemployed youths, as part of its efforts at curbing the high rate of unemployment in the State.
’’Here in Ogun State, we are taking proactive steps not to be left out in equipping the youths with necessary skills for self-reliance and sustainability, by collaborating with relevant organisations such as ITF, National Bureau of Employment, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). The Governor also flagged-off Ogun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OG-YES), to provide the youth with apprenticeship opportunities in trades like carpentry, masonry, and other artisan skills’’, she said.
While urging the beneficiaries who had been trained in fashion designing, ICT/Computer Programming and Cosmetology to make good use of the life changing opportunity provided for them, appealed to ITF to provide post-graduation monitoring and mentoring to the beneficiaries to ensure sustainability of new ventures created.
Earlier in his address, the Director-General of ITF, Sir Joseph Ari, represented by the Director, Research and Curriculum Development, Mr. Zachariah Piwuna, commended the State government for the support, saying it had motivated the agency to improve on its various empowerment programmes, which indigenes of the State had also benefitted.
Sir Ari said the 105 indigenes were trained in Fashion Design and Garment Making, Cosmetology and Information Communication Technology, urging government and stakeholders to give more support to the agency, to build the youths and develop the economy.
In her welcome remarks, the Area Manager and the Deputy Director, ITF Abeokuta Office, Mrs. Funmi Coker, said the Fund, which is the foremost capacity development agency in the country, has successfully trained many individuals across the State, to reduce unemployment and poverty rate, curb youth restiveness and insecurity.
Coker noted that the number of youths trained and empowered by the ITF could be likened to a drop of water in the ocean in comparison to the number of unemployed youths nationwide, calling on government to sponsor additional trainees, payment of master craftsmen allowance and ensure provision of start-up kits for trainees.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Opeyemi Oloyede, a trained fashion designer, applauded ITF for creating a platform to acquire the skills, saying he had been practicing what he learnt and also started training people.
Onayemi Idongesit &Taylor Temitayo,
Press Officers, Office of the Deputy Governor
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