The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Skills centre

  • Philanthropists to unveil skills centre in Imo community March 30

    A Nigerian philanthropist residing in Canada, Mr. Bernard Uzoagba and his wife, Sarah, have concluded arrangements to inaugurate a mobile skills acquisition centre in Imo State.

    The event, which will take place at the Central Primary School, Amandugba, in Isu Local Government Area on March 30, is expected to be attended by many dignitaries.

    The donor, who is also the Managing Director of One Skill Charity Foundation, noted that the concept behind the centre is to empower and train youths with quality skills to enable them to be gainfully employed and employers of labour.

    Uzoagba added that the gesture, which would begin with Amandugba community in Isu Local Government Area, would be extended to other communities in other local government areas in Imo State and Nigeria.

    The businessman, who said he had not received any financial assistance from anybody for his philanthropic efforts, added that he was not doing them for politics and has no intention of joining politics soon.

    He enjoined the people, especially the youths, to see the centre as his little contribution to their well-being, which he urged them to reciprocate by also giving out to others when they must have secured jobs in future.

    Uzoagba, who described the youths as the leaders of tomorrow, added that his foundation will provide hundreds of them in batches with skills on how to make bread, hairdressing and barbing, plumbing, electrical fittings and others.

    “Right now, we have constructed a skill acquisition free school that will be going round the local governments starting from here to all parts of Nigeria, if God permits me. We have bought the land for the centre and spent over N2 million in constructing the mobile school.

    “We shall soon construct the second mobile school in another local government in Imo State so that we can reach out to more youths with quality time and training,” he said.

    Uzoagba said the school will take off in September, this year.

    The couple came calling in the community unannounced last Christmas with clothes, shoes, bags and money for the people in the spirit of the season.

    Since 2012, the 33-year-old and his 30-year-old wife have given out over 43,000 exercise books, including pens, pencils and school supplies to the children in the community and surrounding villages.

    He said: “We did not only distributed the items in this community. Before getting here, we gave out 13 bags of these items to Christian faithful at Redeemed Churches in Aguda, Surulere and many bags to Dustbin Village in Okoafor, Ikotun, Isolo area, Lagos. In another Lagos church, we gave out bags to people to start business with the items. At an Anglican Church in Owerri, we gave out 10 bags to the members.”

  • Huawei donates skills centre to Lagos

    Huawei donates skills centre to Lagos

    Huawei Technologies Co. Nigeria Limited has donated a skills acquisition and devlopment centre to Lagos State government in support of the government’s drive to reduce unemployment and poverty in the state.

    Named: Funmilayo Mobolaji Johnson Skill Acquisition and Development Centre Eti-Osa, Lagos, the projected was inaugurated yseterday  by Huawei and Fortis Projects Services.

    The official commissioning was performed by the first lady of Lagos, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode. Other dignitaries in attendance include the Sole Administrator of Eti-Osa East LCDA – Prince Babatunde Ayo Ayeni, the Managing Director, Huawei – Mr. Frank Li, Director Fortis Group – Mr. Richard Dotun Adebayo, Deputy Managing Director, Huawei – Mr. Leo Li, Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation – Mrs. Lola Akande, Chinese Consul to Nigeria – Chao Xiaoliang and others.

    The centre was designed as an alternative to white collar jobs, impart knowledge in various fields ranging from catering, hat and bead making, hairdressing, fashion designing, photography, fridge and air conditioner maintenance, leather works, wood and carpentry, adult literacy and computer studies.

    Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Ambode enjoined members of the community to put the facilities to good use so as to enjoy the place for a long time to come.

    The Managing Director, Huawei Technologies, Mr. Frank Li said he was motivated to build the centre by his experience with a young girl and her mother who lacked access to skill acquisition. He said the episode continues to motivate him to help children and teenagers in the community at every opportunity.

    Executive Director at Fortis Group, Mr. Richard Dotun Adebayo,  said  the completion of the project marked the beginning of a new dawn for the young men and women of the local community.

    “The project is here to empower you become all that you hope to become in life. You have the opportunities to break boundaries, cross the line and reach new heights,” he said.

    Mrs. Akande  said she was honoured to be part of the commissioning of the skill centre named after the wife of the first Military Governor of the state. She said the project will complement the investment of the state in women empowerment and skills acquisition, adding that it will enable the women contribute to the economic development of the nation.

    She commended Huawei for partnership with Fortis  for the centre, and used the opportunity to urge all private organisations to follow suit.

    Mr. Xiaoliang described the centre as a bountiful blessing to the people, and another monument of the friendship between Nigeria and China.

    Prince Ayeni said  the centre represents an alternative means of livelihood for the people of the community.

  • Fed Govt okays skills centre

    Fed Govt okays skills centre

    The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has  said the Multi-Disciplinary Skills and Entrepreneurship Centre in Umuobiakwa in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State will be used  for training under the Federal Government E-Empowerment Programme.

    Ngige spoke at Umuobiakwa when he inspected  facilities at the centre.

    “I am impressed with what I have seen in the centre which is in line with our focal point for the E-Empowerment. This will be used for the programme,”said Ngige.

    Raymond Aliga, the chief executive of Multi-Disciplinary Skills and Entrepreneurship Centre,  said the centre was partnering the Abia State government under a PPP arrangement.

    Aliga said aside training of students in various skills, the centre had enough machines and equipment for fabrication of metal products that could compete with foreign ones.

    He said some of the products that could be produced at the centre  included streetlight poles, solar energy poles, office furniture and upholstery chairs. It is also equipped to impart brick molding, block laying, mason, plumbing and tile-laying skills.

    He urged government agencies to patronise the centre’s products, saying the centre has equipment and manpower to meet orders.

    Endi Ezengwa, the chief executive of Kiara-De luxe Academy, the centre’s training partners, said the centre would train about 600 students in the first year and, thereafter, the number of intakes would increase.

    He said the focus of the centre was in tandem with the requirements of National Board for Technical Education.

     

  • Skills centre takes off in Imo

    Skills centre takes off in Imo

    It was a day of joy for the over 95 pioneer students of the Nneoma Skills Acquisition Centre, another pet project of the wife of the Imo State governor Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha, as they took the matriculation oath.

    The matriculating students filed out in a long procession dressed in academic gowns, followed by members of the Board of Directors of the centre and the founder. You could have mistaken them for university freshmen, rather than students of a vocational skills acquisition centre.

    The students, majority of who could not acquire higher education, either as a result of financial difficulties or other social factors, savoured every second of the moment of the event, which also served as the formal commissioning of the centre.

    Their mission to acquire basic skills that will guarantee their future has started.

    At the centre, the students will be trained in computer operation, fashion and designing, hair-dressing, catering, photography and cosmetology, among other economic empowering skills.

    The administrator of the centre, Mr. Christian Onuoha, said it is a place where students who had no previous vocational skills are  turned into professionals in a short period of time.

    He said the instructors are well-trained and versed in skill acquisition training and will definitely impact on the students.

    Onuoha encouraged more youths to enroll in the centre.

    He commended the wife of the governor for initiating the programme, which he said will drastically reduce employment by giving the youths skills that we make them self-reliant.

    In her speech, the founder said that she established the centre for the purpose of skill acquisition and economic empowerment for not just the indigent people but for all those who are grappling with the challenges of sustainable means of livelihood.

    She said, “I established this centre for the purpose of skill acquisition and economic empowerment. My target is that in no distant time, the students would become self reliant, independent and great entrepreneurs who I believe will eventually become captains of industries and employers of labour. By so doing, they would hopefully become partners in progress with government, particularly in the area of economic development”.

    Speaking further, she said, “In the light of the present-day global economic recession, you will agree with me that it is no longer ideal to depend entirely on white collar jobs…

    “I hope to build more centres and expand the already existing ones in order to empower a great number of people. I therefore call on you, men and women of goodwill to support this noble initiative so that together we shall build up our society and help in promoting human development.”

    In his speech, Governor Rochas Okorocha, represented by the Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, maintained that the ‘Rescue Mission Administration’ can boast of holistic policy and programmes that touch every facet of life.

    He stated that although the state government has made an indelible mark in the area of infrastructural development, it has also impacted on the life of the people.

    The Deputy Governor stressed that the free and qualitative education policy of his administration is one of such holistic policies that has an unparalleled impact ain every home in the state.