The Nation Newspaper

Tag: empowerment

  • Widow’s Day: Foundation gives scholarship to 135 students

    Widow’s Day: Foundation gives scholarship to 135 students

    As part of activities marking the 2015 International Widows Day, the Rock of Ages Empowerment Foundation, RAEF,  has provided scholarship to eighty-five primary school pupils and fifty secondary schools students in the Federal Capital Territory.

    The gesture according to the Founder and Executive Director of the RAEF, Ignatius Newman Ezeigbo is aimed at providing succor to the mothers of the 135 students who have become widows.

    Speaking at an event marking the 2015 International widows day in Abuja Wednesday, Ezeigbo  said his foundation have also trained 95 widows for bakery, 105 for soap making while a sum of N4, 800,000 have  also been set aside to equip the women with all the materials needed for the initial take off in their businesses.

    “The Foundation have so far spent N70 million on about 3000 widows since 2012, about ten elderly ones here will get grinding machine value at about N40,000 while 1200 bags of rice and also wrappers will also be shared to the widows today”

    Speaking on the future plans of the foundation that have been assisting widows in the last five years, Ezeigbo said it has concluded arrangements to embark on a programme tagged, “Vegetable for life” where lands have been procured in various locations in its branches to be leased to beneficiaries and crops supplied to them for planting.

    “Additionally, boreholes are to be provided in various locations to make for an all year round farming since some vegetables are grown all seasons,” he said.

    Ezeigbo called on Nigerians to seize the opportunity of the International Widows Day to start helping widows around them no matter how little, saying they need assistance.

    The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Ezekiel Oyemomi in his goodwill message at the session said the Federal Government has launched a widow’s empowerment scheme in collaboration with the MTN Foundation with a strong commitment to address the plight of widows in Nigeria and to ensure their integration into the National transformation processes.

    “In addition, the Ministry in continuation of its drive to promote the economic empowerment of women is proposing to train about 100 widows in basic skills and also give them start off grants and tools

    “I wish to call on all stakeholders to support these empowerment schemes as a sure way to ensure that widows vulnerability issues and concerns are positively addressed and be encouraged to participate in economic and other activities geared towards improving their status and ensuring full integration into National Development,“ he said

    Sister Faith Owoicho from Benue State and Rosemary Joseph from Cross River State are among other widows who spoke at the event. They said they encountered hardship after the death of their husbands but with the help of the foundation, they now adequately feed their children, pay their school fees and started a trade of their own.

    They urged people to extend helping hands to widows.

    Other activities that formed part of the celebration includes free medical screening as well as distribution of drugs to the sick persons.

  • Experts task youth on empowerment

    Experts task youth on empowerment

    The Programme Officer of the Young Men Christian Association, (YMCA) Lagos, Akindayomi Olufemi has identified lack of employable skills, indifference to volunteerism among youths and poor governance as factors undermining youth employment and empowerment in Nigeria.

    Olufemi made this known at the 25th celebration of the Wuraola Day organised by the Y’s Men International held in Lagos.

    Tagged: ‘Youth Empowerment and Employment’ the event brought together hundreds of youths drawn from across the state.

    According to Olufemi, “youth employment has become a major issue around the globe with remarkable differences within regions and among countries. Institutional factors such as labour market, regulations, minimum wages, vocational training systems, but also benefits regimes and activation strategies play a major role in facilitating, hampering the transition of young people into the labour market.”

    He asserted that government has made giant strides in tackling youth unemployment in Nigeria through its Youwin project, National Poverty Eradication (NAPEP), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Public Employment Service (PES), Subsidy Reinvestment and Endowment Programmes (SURE-P).

    In his words, the Progenitor of the Wuraola Day, Balogun Kunle Delano who expressed his gratitude for the sustenance of his wife humanitarian service said that the proceeds from the Wuraola Day celebration will go into local and international charity project.

  • Glo’s commitment to subscribers’ empowerment lauded

    Glo’s commitment to subscribers’ empowerment lauded

    Mobile network operator,  Globacom, has been lauded for its commitment to subscribers’ empowerment as well as pursuit of high quality of service as justification.

    This was stated while the company was being honoured as Nigeria’s best telecoms service provider.

    Daily Independent Newspaper announced Glo as Telecoms Network of the Year,  2014, at an A- class event held at Nicon Luxury Hotels, Abuja.

    Managing Director of the newspapers, Mr Ted Iwere, declared that in addition to world-class customer service and high quality of service of the Glo network, the company’s continuous ”investment in infrastructure and commitment to the passions of the people have been the cornerstone of Globacom’s policies with millions of direct and indirect beneficiaries”.

    Iwere said from inception, Globacom came all out with a strong determination to shake the industry for good and this it did with its innovative products that saw many Nigerians rushing to the network.

    He said: “It was not surprising that just about eight months into its operation, Glo Mobile,  Globacom’s cellular arm, made history as the fastest growing network in Africa by reaching an unprecedented one million subscribers mark and covering over 87 towns in Nigeria.”

    ”Twelve years down the line, Globacom has become a truly national carrier that every Nigerian can be proud of with over 35 million subscribers on its network.

    “Besides, Globacom has kept the Nigerian flag flying across Africa and it is today considered as the country’s biggest corporate export with footprints in Ghana, Benin Republic, Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire and The Gambia,” he added.

  • We remain committed to youth empowerment

    The chairman of Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Ibrahim Daniel has reiterated commitment of the council to provide skills acquisition for youths in the area.

    Daniel, in an interview, stated that apart from the many programmes to be organised in the council for such purposes, the council will also in conjunction with FCT administration create an atmosphere for job creation.

    “There is an empowerment programme we will do in conjuction with FCT administration. We will benefit from it and it will help them be creator of jobs.

    Although, within the council through the office of the first lady, we have trained them and we will also give them micro loans, to help them continue with the skills they have learnt and teach other ones.

    “We want to ensure that there is multiplying effect it. If we have had 15 people that have learnt the skill, now we have about 50 people. Those 50 people will also train others and within a year, we would have trained more people. We have done a lot. We have sent some of them to China were they went to learn some skills,” he said.

    On the various projects in the council, the chairman said some of the projects have been completed, while some are at the point of completion, thereby pledged the council’s commitment to complete them in due course, so that the residents will benefit from them.

    “We had initiated some projects when we came into office like the boreholes, road projects. We re-awarded Angwan Kashun Road, which has been completed. The Yangoji-Dafa Road also has been completed.

    “The Dabo-Bako township road is ongoing. The council has achieved about 60 per cents of the project. The contractor is waiting for mobilization, in order to finish the job. We are aiming to complete it within the second quarter of 2015,” he said.

  • Tackling unemployment through economic empowerment

    Tackling unemployment through economic empowerment

    For Jimoh Dolapo, 35, after roaming the streets for years looking for job that was not there, enrolling for the just concluded Expanded Economic Empowerment Programme (EEEP) of the Lagos State government has ended her nightmares. After attending classes for four weeks, the lessons she took in the catering class at the Alimosho centre, has empowered the Economics graduate with the needed skills to start a new vocation of her own and end her endless search for job. She is now a caterer and employer of labour. Not only that, the mere fact that she paid nothing for the course, for which she also got training kits, makes her life better and the course she learnt more rewarding. And for this, Dolapo is grateful to the Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN)-led government in Lagos State for the initiative aimed at giving self-fulfilment to unemployed graduates and also fight poverty. As for her, the training has also ended the nightmare of many households as housewives and men to learn one trade or the other during the three phases of the programme which has gone a long way in reducing unemployment and poverty in the state in particular and the country in general.

    She is not alone to tell her story to reporters who swam the centres to feel the pulse of the participants and beneficiaries.

    ‘Now that I am self-employed, I can pay my tax and   fulfil my family obligations which have not been so for some time, says Rachael Aina, a B.Sc Accounting graduate of the University of Benin who participated in the second phase of the programme between October and November last year.

    The participation in the three phase empowerment programme is not just for the women, the lowly placed and the youths but also those in the royalty are not left out of the urge to acquire knowledge and better their lives.

    In this class is Chief Oladeinde Anifowose who, at over 60, enrolled in the soap making class. In his words: “my motivation is to have something to feed myself and my family.” A jewellery maker before he opted for the one-month training in the second phase between October and November last year, he feels elated that in spite of the huge amount of money government has expended on the programme, the beneficiaries still went home with tools of their different vocations.  The government, he said, came about the idea of skill training to fill the gap in the lack of electricity which is the bane of several artisans, adding “instead of sitting down, we became creative to find a solution and that involved training you in vocations that do not require electricity, that you can do with your hands in your homes to earn money to support yourselves and your family.”

    With the euphoria that greeted the first phase and the consequent increase in attendance and projections, the second phase also overshot its target as beneficiaries who enrolled for the programme increased to 17,220 made up of 2,091 males and 15,129 females.

    Babatunde Olowo, 58, a retired marketing manager in one of the blue chip companies, also found an attraction in the vocation programme and enrolled for training in disinfectant making during the second phase at the Alimosho centre. His reasons: “I had always wanted to become a producer of disinfectants, having marketed the product for years for my company before I retired. Hence, I regard this initiative as a rare opportunity given by the state government.”

    He did not stop at this as he canvassed for the state government to extend the programme to third phase so as to enable many people also benefit and by so doing reduce the poverty rate in the state through self employment.

    The project entered its second phase in October last year. One interesting feature of the beneficiaries in all the centres from Lekki to Ojo, Ikorodu, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos Island, Surulere, Ikeja, Badagry, EtiOsa, Epe and Ikeja was that several people who could not get registered because of the limited space available at the centres are content with coming for the training without being registered. They were determined not to let the opportunity slip by and hence content with attending lectures where they have to manage to have a seat and receive the much-sought knowledge they needed to start off on their own. Amongst this category is Jolayemi Opayemi Kamoru, who praised government’s efforts to offer means of livelihood to citizens. With his training in events decoration, “the job is no longer a magic to me.”

    Chief Olaide Anifowose who also put aside his royalty to enrol in soap making was also determined to uplift the status of his family adding, “I have to enrol in order to be able to feed myself and rely less on perks of the office which in most cases are not always forthcoming there.”

    However, with the commencement of the third phase of the training programme in February, the enthusiasm of the beneficiaries knows no bounds with the result that thousands of others who could not get enrolled in the first two phases turned up. In all, 11,176 enrolled for the third phase which kicked off in the first week of February and ended on February 27.

    Speaking at the occasion, deputy governor of Lagos state, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, whose ministry, The ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), supervised the training, said the programme was part of the efforts at alleviating poverty through the training of men and women as well as young graduates in entrepreneurial skills in order to make them self- employed rather than seeking for white collar jobs.

    While congratulating the trainees for taking the opportunity provided by the government, Princess Adefulire said the third phase was in response to the yearning of those that missed the two previous phases of the programme that started in September last year. According to her, about 36,243 residents of the state irrespective of state of origin, religion, ethnic group or party affiliation has benefited from the programme during the three phases.

  • Ericsson, Tigo, others partner on community empowerment

    Ericsson, Tigo, others partner on community empowerment

    Ericsson, Tigo and Coca-Cola have partnered to float a programme they said would empower rural communities.

    The pilot project will bring mobile connectivity to EKOCENTER, a social enterprise initiative designed to empower community well-being by bringing safe water, solar power and mobile communications, as well as basic goods and services to underserved communities.  The pilot project will be conducted in collaboration with Tigo Rwanda and German start-up company, Solarkiosk.

    Chief Sustainability Officer, Coca-Cola Company, Beatriz Perez, said: “EKOCENTER is an innovative social enterprise that endeavors to help communities thrive by providing further access to resources.  Engaging new partners to join this journey adds skills and expertise beyond our core enhancing the value for the people in these communities. Connectivity has become a fundamental part of thriving communities and economies. We’re excited about the solutions Ericsson can deliver to EKOCENTER, solutions we believe will foster positive change.”

    Vice President Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson, Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, also said about the initiative:  “Mobile broadband can address a wide range of issues that hinder development – from poverty to lack of electricity and safe water, to financial exclusion and gender inequality”.

  • ‘Gender equality, women’s empowerment crucial to UNIDO’

    ‘Gender equality, women’s empowerment crucial to UNIDO’

    Gender equality and women empowerment are crucial to the the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the Director-General,  LI Yong, has said

    Yong, who gave an address titled: “Advancing Gender Equality, Empowerment of Women and Girls for a Transformative post-2015 Development Agenda”, to markthe International Women’s Day.

    “Empowering women is empowering humanity. Gender equality and women’s empowerment is central to UNIDO’s work as it is not only a matter of human rights, but also a precondition for sustainable development and economic growth, which are drivers of poverty reduction and social integration.

    He said when women and men are equal, economies grow faster, more people are lifted out of poverty and the overall well-being of societies is enhanced. “Central to UNIDO’s mission of inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) is the urgent need to harness the economic potential of women–half of the world’s population. Women are powerful drivers of ISID and their role is poised to become even greater in the future,” he said.

    Yong said women and girls make up 70 per cent of the world’s extreme poor, adding that out that, the majority lives in rural areas where communities are resource-poor and isolated, and most subsist on small-scale productive activities.

    “UNIDO helps develop competitive agro-industries in order to create jobs and sustainable livelihoods for the rural poor. By providing technical assistance, UNIDO aims to strengthen agro-industrial capabilities and linkages to facilitate economic transformation in rural communities, particularly among women and youth.

    “For example, UNIDO provides rural women and men equal access to new agro-technologies and skills upgrading. Assistance is also provided for process optimisation, compliance with quality and environmental standards, and the identification of market opportunities,” he said.

    Yong said in addition to maximising entrepreneurial and economic opportunities for rural women, UNIDO targets sectors with a high potential for wealth creation, food security or export promotion.

  • Niger Delta empowerment body floats Lagos chapter

    Niger Delta empowerment body floats Lagos chapter

    The Lagos State chapter of the Niger Delta Empowerment Association of Nigeria has been inaugurated .

    The event held at the Pillar of Truth Faith Mission, Ilaje Ojo in Lagos.

    The association, according to Pastor Emmanuel Ohenrin, is long overdue. The association, Ohenrin said, comprises the six  states in the Southsouth.

    He said: “Oil is not our only trademark. Our different style of dressing also gives us out.

    “God recognises governance. If we sit here idle and do nothing, any government could take advantage of us.

    “Our kinsmen are in Lagos contributing their quota and helping the state to develop. We should also use this platform to start demanding our own fair share from Lagos government. Niger Deltans are not common people. We can go to Abuja and challenge government. Let our kinsmen in other states also do same.”

    The association’s chairman, Udoghoreyon Lawyer Edema, said the lack of a unifying language has created a setback for the region.

    “Niger Delta has been a victim of a unified language. In the West, Yoruba is the Lingua Franca. In the East, we have the Igbo and Hausa in the North. But in Niger Delta, we have no acceptable language; hence we all adopted pidgin English. This affects our socio-cultural life.

    “Those of us outside our state are never recognised by our host state.  This is as a result of non-cooperation or what I will describe as the babel tongue. We have the Hausa as Arewa, the Igbo as Ndigbo and Yoruba as Oduduwa or Afeniferere. The Niger Delta has no socio-cultural group that fully represents them.”

    Edema said their children can hardly communicate in their mother tongue.

    “Also our traditional fashion is a taboo to the youths. We borrow anything that comes our way because we are not united,” Edema said.

    The Public Relations Officer (PRO), Solomon Toro, said  the organisation would have a website to promote its activities. He described the association as non political but an avenue for the Niger Deltans to “assist members financially and otherwise and redeem our cultural stance within other communities”.

    The high point of the event was the inauguration of executive members.

     

  • 240 benefit from empowerment programme

    One of the reasons for the establishment of local government administration is to ensure that members of rural communities enjoy the benefits of democracy. In most situations, the reverse is the case as some communities at the grassroots experience horrifying hardship if their leaders are insensitive to their plight.

    In the circumstances, members of communities that make up Oriade Local Council Development Area of Lagos State have cause to thank God for having a Council Manager that cares for their well-being.

    Last week, the Council Manager, Mrs. Florence Omotunde Peters organised empowerment programme for residents of the council as part of the council’s efforts to alleviate the suffering of the citizens, create employment and ensure that citizens are economically self-reliant.

    The future looks bright for 240 youths and women of the council as they complete a five-day professional training programme on skills acquisition. They were trained on cake making, headgear (gele) tying, make up/make over, soap making as well as tie and dye.

    Speaking during the opening ceremony, Mrs. Peters said: “The LCDA embarked on the programme in order to help those who do not have tangible means of livelihood or gainful employment to be self-reliant and contribute their quota to the economic growth and development of the council.

    “The empowerment programme was in line with the vision of the state government to provide sustainable sources of income to the unemployed while also reducing poverty.”

    The five-day training programme, Mrs Peters said, would empower youths and women with the practical skills needful to establish their own small-scale businesses.

    ‘’The training programme aims at reducing the level of unemployment in the society. It is going to help you to support your families, especially your children. About 240 people would participate in the training programme. The instructors will expose you to the use of modern equipment, current expertise and professional developments,’’ she said.

    Continuing, she said: “The increasing number of unemployed youths roaming the streets in search of jobs and some parents not having tangible means of livelihood has made them become frustrated and, most times, engage in anti-social activities that are inimical to the well-being of our society. It is therefore our responsibility as government to do something concrete to address this situation by intervening with various measures that will alleviate poverty and create employment opportunities.

    Not only did the council organise empowerment training programme for the citizens, it also provided the participants with work tools at the end of the programme. This, according to Mrs Peters, was to enable the beneficiaries to establish small-scale businesses for themselves in a bid to become self-reliant.

    Two of the beneficiaries, Miss Grace Joe and Alimi Bukola expressed their appreciation to the Council Manager for coming to their aids.

    They said: “It is a privilege for us to participate in the empowerment training programme which has emboldened us with the hope to establish our own businesses someday,’’ even as they promised to maximise the opportunity that the training programme had offered them.

  • Youth group plans empowerment programme

    THE Lagos State chapter of the National Igbo Youths Congress has said it is determined to empower youths across the country, as a way of reducing youth unemployment.

    Speaking during the annual general meeting of the IYC in Lagos, the national president of the congress, Comrade Jerry Ugwu, lamented that many youths continue to roam the streets after graduation because governments at all levels have failed to create jobs.

    According to him, “You see youths walking around the town with no jobs. Our plan is to empower such youths and make sure that they become useful to themselves and the country at large. We need to make such youths believe that they can succeed without the support of the government.”

    He said the group has set up committees in areas like business, education, tailoring, hairdressing and other trades to work out the modalities for exercise. On the plan of the group in the 2015 general elections, he said: “This congress is nonpolitical, but at the same time, we still have to vote. So, we have decided to give our support to anybody who has donethe development of the youths.”