Four hundred and thirty persons, who received skills training have been empowered by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).
NDE Acting Director-General, Mr. Kunle Obayan made this known at the resettlement of graduates of the Vocational Skills Development (VSD) programme in Minna, the Niger State capital.
He said the disbursement was in line with the plan to create mass employment for unskilled and unemployed Nigerians by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
Obayan said the desire of the NDE had always been to empower beneficiaries of its skills training programmes. He, however, lamented that this had been limited by the funds available to the directorate each year.
He advised unskilled and unemployed young Nigerians to take advantage of the various programmes of the NDE to exit joblessness, assuring that the directorate would not relent in its efforts to assist young Nigerians to access decent jobs.
The Director-General, New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD), Mr. Abdullahi Abubakar, said the empowerment of over 400 persons across the nation by the NDE was a step towards addressing the developmental challenge the nation was facing.
He called on the beneficiaries to use what was given to them judiciously and urged the youth to discover their potentials.
Abubakar said the state government is encouraging youths to go into business ventures as government alone could not provide jobs for all the unemployed youths in the state. He said the state government would roll out its programme for youth empowerment soon.
The beneficiaries were given equipment for welding, electrical engineering, beads making, shoe making, fridge repair works, among others
A faith-based non-governmental organisation, Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation (ZSF) has disbursed the sum of N111 million to 21,038 beneficiaries across the South-east, South-south and South-west regions of the country.
The disbursement ceremony, 11th in its series, was held at the Multi-purpose hall, Lagos State Secretariat Mosque, Ikeja, Lagos.
ZSF Executive Director Imam Abdullahi Shuaib, said the disbursement was meant to cater for medical and economic needs of the beneficiaries.
Economic empowerment of Nigerians, Shuaib said, is a priority.
This, he said, became necessary due to the level of poverty in the country where more than 67 percent of the 170 million population earn less than one dollar per day.
He said corruption; unemployment and lack of social security for the poor, needy and aged have compounded the situation from bad to worse.
Shuaib said: “The implication of this ugly scenario is that most of the applicants as well as the beneficiaries of today find it very challenging to meet up with their basic needs of life. Furthermore, the figures also indicate that most of the beneficiaries are extremely deprived of access to qualitative health-care facilities due to their financial constraints among others.
“It is however gratifying to note that we have a new government at the federal level as well as a new regime in Lagos State that came with a change mantras to right the wrong of the immediate past administration and build a new culture of deepening the welfare of its citizenry and make their security one of the major policy thrusts of their administration.
“As a development partner, we shall continue to deepen our social services delivery to the less-privileged; thereby complementing government services while adding values to the life of humanity which is one of the major themes of Islam – to love and care for those suffering from deprivation and lack of access to qualitative social services. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, our humble way of walking our talk is the support we are giving to some of the beneficiaries present here.”
Aside cheques presentation, some of the items distributed include industrial sewing machines, 14 deep freezers, four tricycles and one motorcycle. Also were grinding machine, a pop-corn machine, a laptop, a complete computer system, a binding machine, printer, scanner, among others.
The executive director urged the beneficiaries to be self-disciplined with the Zakat fund as well as the items been given to them.
“This can help you become self-independent in the nearest future and possibly employers of labour and not seekers of employment,” he said.
Shuaib thanked the Zakat payers, charity donors, development partners such as An-Nur Eye Centre and Human Concern Foundation International.
ZSF Board of Director chairman Prince Sulayman Olagunju said the policy thrust of the foundation is to add values to humanity and also to help the rich to enrich the poor.
“For us at the Foundation, the socio-economic wellbeing of the less-privileged in our society is of utmost concern. And to deepen the quality services our field workers render to humanity, we shall continue to build the capacity of our staff-members across the country with a view to improving the social services delivery of the Foundation to Muslims and non-Muslims,” Olagunju said.
Guest speaker Sheikh Imran AbdulMajeed Eleha, urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of it, so that they would be able to pay Zakat in the near future for others to benefit.
Sheikh Imran thereafter identified poverty and ignorance as two major problems bedevilling Muslims in Nigeria.
His words: “Poverty and Ignorance are the two major challenges confronting Muslims in Nigeria. If we are to tackle ignorance among Muslims, there is an urgent need for the promotion of qualitative education. But as tackling poverty requires money, a whole lot of money too is also needed to curb illiteracy among Muslims. From this end, I want to advise the Foundation to promote knowledge that would positively be of benefit to Islam.
“Therefore, I would suggest that the foundation earmark certain percentage of the Zakat fund for the sponsorship of Itinerant students of Islamic knowledge and also expend part of the fund to organise seminars to enlightened those scholars who in actual fact are ignorant of what the Quran and hadiths say and as such are promoting their selfish agenda thereby causing chaos and destruction in the society. After this, the Foundation should empower them financially to be able to sustain themselves as they propagate Islam”.
Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef hailed the foundation for its impact over the years.
“One of the advantages of Zakat,” the commissioner said, “is that it enables equal distributions of wealth. Apart from this, it also creates wealth. In a society where there is crime, obviously, in such society there are no equal distributions of wealth. Therefore, one of the ways of balancing this is through the payment of Zakat where we take from the rich and give to the poor and it is being done here by the Foundation”.
No fewer than 300 women and youths selected from Akoko South East/Akoko South West federal constituency in Ondo State, have benefited from a five-day skill acquisition programme organized mainly for rural people.
The training, which was sponsored by a member of House of Representatives, Hon. Kolawole Babatunde and coordinated by Prince Timothy Korede, was designed in helping the government to reduce the rate of unemployment in the society.
Beneficiaries of the programme were trained on production of body and hair cream, traditional cloth-dying; soap manufacturing among others.
Speaking with The Nation, Hon. Kolawole, who is a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), said:” Available statistics revealed that unemployment rate in Nigeria is increasing geometrically and if urgent intervention is not procured to reverse the trend, it may induce social upheavals and increase criminality in the society. ”
The Federal Ministry of Finance has empowered no fewer than 100 unemployed graduates under its Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) programme in Lagos State.
The three-day training was held between December 7 and 9 at the NECA building Alausa, Ikeja.
The director of the scheme, Mr Peter Papka, in his speech delivered by his representative, John Umoren, said: “The orientation and employability training are meant for the graduate interns but we have deliberately included partnering firms and organizations as part of government’s commitment in contributing to enhancement of their capacity in service effectiveness, especially through staff assessment\development through structured mentorship and other critical lines which are necessary for growth of any firm and organization. It also provides an opportunity to share with other partners and interns on workplace and performance and how to optimize on the benefits of the scheme.”
The objective, according to him, is to: “Enable interns optimize their internship period by developing useful skills and positive work habit. It is also aimed at providing an opportunity share experiences with other participants, including partner representatives on opportunities and challenges in the work place. Another aim of the programme is to expose participants to opportunities for life after internship and to contribute to service delivery and performance of partners.”
He added: “The key outcome of these trainings has been the enthusiasm with which they were received as almost all inters admitted that this was the first formal training they are receiving on workplace and work life and it has added value to their lives. They also admitted a clear and present opportunity of GIS provides for them to chart the course of their future. Many interns are beginning to jettison the idea of waiting for a job from government as some are venturing into entrepreneurship.”
Utin Destiny Achievers Foundation, a non-governmental organization based in Lagos State has empowered no fewer than 100 indigent residents in the state.
The beneficiaries acquired multiple skills during the vocational training that lasted four days.
The Chief Executive Officer and pastor of Life Transformation Pentecostal Ministry, Egbeda, Peter Utin, said his passion to liberate the people from poverty compelled him to embark on the programme.
He said: “When I looked what the people are going through in the society, I had a burden in my heart to come out and assist them and that is what you are seeing us doing. I went through hard times in life and I don’t want others in that condition to continue in that circumstances. We want to put smiles on the faces of the people not only for today but for a lifetime.
“We don’t have the vision of empowering our members alone because it would amount to selfishness which is unacceptable to God. We have a mandate to empower people across the country without minding their religious affiliations. There are so many Muslims among the people we empowered and we always make sure that everybody gets equal treatment because that is what God has called us to do.
“We pasted posters across different local government areas and people that were interested applied for it and I was surprised that people came all the way from Ikorodu to participate in the programme. We had to provide accommodation for such participants all through the period the programme took place to save them the stress and cost of going and coming from their distant places of resident.”
He added: “Aside from training them in various skills, we are also giving them seed capital to start their businesses. It is not enough to train people without giving them the financial support to take off. After giving them the financial assistance, we would be monitoring them to make sure that they did not divert the money into other things. When we see the progress they are making, we would give them additional funds to enlarge their businesses. We don’t have financial backing from anywhere.
“This is not one of the programmes that are organized annually. It is going to be either monthly or every two months because of our vision to empower huge number of indigent members of the society. We are planning to organize one for police officers’ wives in Lagos State between now and January. We are going to be organizing the programme across the 36 states in the country including the Federal Capital Territory FCT.”
The beneficiaries expressed profound gratitude to the organization for deeming it fit to assist the less privilege in the society.
“I am highly elated by the kind gesture of the church. It is heartwarming that they are spending their time and resources in helping people like us who have no hope of getting assistance from anywhere,” Mary, a participant said.
The Nigerian Association of University Women (NAUW), FUNAAB Chapter, has held an empowerment programme tagged: ‘Be your own boss’.
It was aimed at teaching interested female students and women, skills, such as bead-making, cake-baking, fashion designing and decoration.
The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Olusola Oyewole, represented by the Dean of Student Affairs, Prof ‘Yemi said: “Any woman who goes to her husband’s house without any trade may end up as a failure, both to her husband and children.’’
He praised the participants for making out time to attend the programme, adding that acquisition of an extra skill or knowledge would make them independent and respected.
The Chairperson of NAUW, FUNAAB Branch, Dr. Comfort Onifade, expressed optimism that the exercise would add value to the lives of the women. She said the society has abandoned the women, thus creating more burden for NAUW.
The maiden edition of the Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation, (ZSF) Business Plan Competition has empowered over 20 people. TAJUDEEN ADEBANJO reports that the organisation gave out a whopping N20 million to beneficiaries to enable them become self-reliant.
In order to encourage youths to strive towards self-reliance, the Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation, (ZSF) has organised its maiden edition of Business Plan Competition during which 20 winners emerged.
The event, which held at Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos, penultimate Wednesday, was part of the Entrepreneurship Development Project (EDP); a brainchild of ZSF. The ZSF was assisted by Jaiz Bank Plc and Al-Barakah Micro-finance Bank.
The project was divided into two categories; namely growth track and idea track.
According to ZSF, EDP intends to promote entrepreneurship skills among the youth to enable them to be self-reliant and become job creators instead of job seekers.
At the event, 20 out of 128 participants won N10 million.
The lucky 20 participants had earlier made physical presentations of their business ideas and models before a panel of experts from which the best four applicants from the idea track and the best four applicants from the growth track categories were shortlisted for final award.
•From left: Dr Ashiru assisted by Lagos State University (LASU) lecturer Hajia Muslihah Ajala to present a N500,000 dummy cheque and certificate to Mrs Risqat Olaiwon
The best four finalists in the growth track were rewarded with N1.5 million, N1 million, N750,000 and N500,000 for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions respectively, while the best four finalists in the idea track were rewarded with N1 million, N750,000, N500,000 and N250,000 for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions respectively.
The other participants received N100, 000 each as support for their businesses.
ZSF Executive Director, Imam Abdullahi Shuaib expressed optimism that the scheme would go a long way in tackling the endemic problems of poverty, unemployment and hopelessness confronting Nigerian youths.
According to him, ZSF is committed to tackling problems of poverty and unemployment among Muslim youths through its Entrepreneurship Development Project (EDP).
He enjoined the beneficiaries to utilise the seed capital judiciously for the growth of the businesses.
“We have fulfilled our own part of the contract; it is left for you to fulfil yours. Our monitoring and evaluation officers will keep a tab on you from time to time and we implore you to furnish us with progress reports regularly. Be reminded that we shall render accounts, so will you on the Day of Judgement,” he said.
Chairman of ZSF Advisory Board, Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab praised the participants for believing in the foundation.
Alhaji Mutallab, who is also the chairman of Jaiz Bank said: “In line with the philosophy of our foundation, we are committed to providing opportunities for the teeming Nigerian youths endowed with various potential but lacking the required seed capital or having difficulty with gaining access to grants to expand their small and medium-size enterprises.
“In addition, Zakat and Sadaqat Foundation is in partnership with Jaiz Bank Plc and Al-Barakah Micro-finance Bank Limited to complement the efforts of government in the area of job creation and employment opportunities for future leaders of this great country.
“It is against this background that we have gathered here today to reward some of the Nigerian youths that emerged best among their colleagues in the just-concluded competition with various cash prizes, certificates and plagues, among others. I am also very glad to inform you that we have a win-win situation for all the remaining contestants because they will be appreciated by the foundation in another way beyond this gathering.”
Leader of the team that selected the winners, Dr Lukman Raimi, a Senior Lecturer at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) enjoined the winners to keep in touch for continuous monitoring.
Ameerah (President) of Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN) Lagos State chapter, Dr Sariyu Ashiru, praised ZSF for the initiative. She said it will play a major role in achieving one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations.
She expressed her regrets that government has failed to achieve some of its economic targets in 2010 and 2015, while it is currently pursuing the Vision 2020 agenda.
Ashiru, however, urged other stakeholders to emulate ZSF in a bid to eradicate poverty in the country through youth empowerment.
The grand prize winner, Dolapo Taofik Olalekan, on behalf of other beneficiaries, appreciated the foundation for the support, promising to utilise the fund judiciously for the growth of their businesses.
A female ex-inmate, Jennifer Ngozi Mberekpe, found joy as she received a cheque of N200,000 from Pastor Chris Ekeh, Founder and General Overseer of Word and Spirit Assembly Church, Satellite Town, Lagos, to start a new life outside the prison.
Miss Mberekpe was recently freed from the Female Prison, Kirikiri, Apapa, where she had been since last year, following a case of fraud preferred against her.
She was freed 12 days after Pastor Ekeh visited the prison on July 17, 2015, to celebrate his 40th birthday with the inmates.
The pastor had promised to render financial assistance to any inmate that would be released after his visit. Her case was struck out by the trial judge.
At the Church service last Sunday, Pastor Ekeh presented the cheque of N200,000 to Mberekpe in fulfillment of his pledge.
During the presentation, the celebrity pastor said: “This is my own little way of sowing into your life and also fulfilling the promise I made during my recent visit to both the Maximum and the Female Kirikiri prisons.”
Overwhelmed by the gesture, Mberekpe thanked her benefactor, stating that the gesture came to her as a surprise.
Lagos State Government through the Ministry of Agriculture has again empowered rice farmers in the state with inputs support ranging from land preparation, seeds, fertiliser and water pumps to boost production during this dry season farming.
Speaking at a programme to flag-off this year’s dry season rice farming and distribution of agricultural inputs and small irrigation scheme equipment at Itoikin Rice field, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Olajide Bashorun, disclosed that the programme is aimed at boosting rice production.
“The administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode believes that governance should shift to the community hence the distribution of inputs support ranging from land preparation, seeds, fertiliser and water pumps; this will not only boost production but also bring about effective and efficient rice production thereby increasing the production of rice in the state” he said.
Bashorun noted that among the very prime value chains that Lagos State has comparative and competitive advantage is rice value chain, stressing that the state government places premium on this value chain including others like Vegetables, Poultry and fisheries chains.
The Permanent Secretary who was represented by the General Manager, Lagos State Agric Input Supply Authority, Mr. Bolaji Balogun, pointed out that the event is symbolic especially against the backdrop of farmers often depending on Rainfed Agriculture, adding that since the state has an Ogun/ Oshun River basin authority, the need to maximise the water resource to aid all year round farming cannot be overemphasised.
“Rice is an area that Lagos State can demonstrate enormous capacity with support from Ogun- Oshun and FADAMA III project additional financing, we can put more line into rice twice or thrice a year and move the annual gig of rice from two tonnes to Six tonnes”, he said.
According to Bashorun, farmers are contributing towards ensuring food security in the state and one of the primary goals of the state government, is to ensure that the state is food secured and can substantially meet its food demand.”We also know that rice has become a major stable food in the state and in a situation where the country is spending on the average a billion naira monthly to import rice and 365 billion yearly, its high time we became dependent on rice production and rice utilisation market is guarantee as Lagos is one of the states in the federation that has put in place a modern rice mill machine”, he posited.
NO fewer than 150 men and women have graduated from the vocational training by the Chris Okafor Foundation (COF).
The graduands, who were trained in various vocations, also got N50, 000 each to start their businesses.
COF’s founder, Dr. Chris Okafor, urged the graduates to make sure that the purpose of the training was not wasted, adding that they must all ensure that they build successful businesses.
Shedding light on the Foundation’s gesture, Okafor, who is the General Overseer of Liberation City Ministries International, said it was also borne out of the need to teach people how to fish and not to give them fish.
After their training, he explained, the church felt it was important to be the first to sow into their businesses, because ‘’we know how difficult it is to raise capital for business, so we decided to kick start it for them, even as we continue to mentor and monitor their progress’’.
“Let me advise you not to despise the days of small beginning. From here, you can all become big and internationally renowned entrepreneur,” Okafor urged.
He explained that the initiative was one of his modest ways of contributing to the development of the country, calling on other body of Christ to emulate the gesture of the church as this will reduce the rate of unemployment in the country.
Okafor further said the responsibility of the church is not only to delivered people or win their soul for Christ, but also to empower them with skills and cash so they can be independent.
Some of the graduates thanked the Foundation for putting smiles on their faces.
For 21 days, the trainees, drawn from all works of life, converged on the Liberation City Headquarters for the skills acquisition programme, where leading professionals in Fashion hoen their skills.
