Some 100 youths in Ogun State have been empowered in different vocational skills by the state government and two private firms IHS Nigeria Limited and WeforGood International, both in Lagos.
The vocational skills include catering, baking, tie and dye, coding, animation, as well as arts and crafts.
The State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, while speaking at the graduation ceremony of the trainees in Abeokuta, said the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative of the State government, has given the teeming youths the opportunity to be self-reliance and sufficient.
Salako-Oyedele, represented by her Senior Special Adviser, Mr. Raman Salako, explained that vocational skills were essential to the development and growth of a nation, affirming that the effort of the present administration has brought about the birth of TechHub and Jobs portal, calling on other private organisations to hunt for talents, to engage youths meaningfully.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Job Creation and Youth Empowerment, Prince Lekan Olude, represented by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Job Creation, Mr. Biola Odetola said job creation is one of the critical pillars of the present administration to deliver the young people from idleness and unemployment, noting that skill acquisition programme is a way of delivering the dividends of democracy.
Olude, therefore, charged the trainees to make good use of the knowledge gained.
In her remarks, the Director of IHS Towers Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Ama Sholoton pointed out that young people are more likely to be unemployed, compared to adults, noting that 14 million youths were unemployed, due to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She noted that the training is meant to make the graduands self-reliant and needed to gain a technical skill that will make them successful.
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