The Nation Newspaper

Tag: training centre

  • Club donates food, clothes to rehabilitation home

    The Crystal Club of Ikorodu has donated clothes and food items worth N500, 000 to inmates of the Lagos State Rehabilitation and Training Centre, Owutu, Ikorodu. The donation was made a fortnight ago.

    The gesture, according to the club’s President Moruf Adepelumi Olowosago, was meant not only to support the state government in making life more abundant for the inmates, but also the club’s act of Zadah, (benevolence to the poor and the needy), especially during the holy period of Ramadan.

    Olowosago said: “The items we brought are our humble effort to support the state government in the running of this centre which we know must be humongous. It is our way of expressing our support to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for what he is doing, even for a centre such as this.”

    He said the club was shocked to know that there are even children at the centre, a development which made them to include pampers into the items given to them.

    A former President of the club Alhaji Babatunde Rotinwa said the items are part of the club’s corporate social responsibility to members of the society and he is happy that it is being extended to the rehabilitation centre.

    He said the club is happy to be partnering with the government in bringing succor to inmates who are vulnerable and needed succour from members of the society.

    “We know that managing the depressed and mentally I’ll people is not easy, that is why we decided to come round to support in this little way to alleviate the problem as much as we can,” Rotinwa said.

    The centre’s Principal Mr Sikiru Eyiowuawi while receiving the gift praised the club for its kindness. He said the centre which has 1,500 rehabilitees, requires huge materials to feed its inmates, the cost of which has been borne exclusively by the government except for donations coming from clubs, religious organisations and philanthropists.

    Describing the centre as mini Nigeria, Eyiowuawi said only five per cent of people being rehabilitated with the rest coming from other parts of the country, including the ECOWAS sub-region.

    The centre, according to him, has three categories of people being rehabilitated; namely the mentally challenged, destitute and beggars. He added, however, that it does less of beggars who are often released once a judgment is obtained for their release.

    He said 75 per cent of the inmates are mentally challenged, with the rest being destitute.

    Eyiowuawi recalled that the centre was established in 1977 to take destitute and beggars off the streets of Lagos during the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC 77), and was thereafter transferred to the state government as a rehabilitation centre.

    The centre, which is managed by the ministries of Health and Youth and Social Development give grounding to the inmates in vocational skills such as electrical, barbing, cane and fibre knitting, carpentry, tailoring and hair dressing and make up.

    Eyiowuawi said the centre has resident psychiatric consultant and other medical teams that man its medical centre, adding that cases that are beyond the centre to handle are often referred to the General Hospital in Ikorodu, while more complicated cases may be referred to the Neurons Psychiatric Hospital Yaba.

    He said children inmates are either born in the centre or brought alongside their parents by rescue operators.

    He called on well-meaning individuals and philanthropic organisations to emulate the Crystal Club by donating generously to the centre for proper upkeep of the inmates.

  • Firm mulls training centre in Nigeria for skills transfer

    A technology firm, Mart Networks Nigeria Ltd, said it will establish training centre in Nigeria to complement government’s drive to provide jobs, empower small, medium enterprises (SMEs) and transfer information technology (IT) skills to the country.

    The Managing Director, Mart Networks Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Moiz Maloo, who spoke to reporters on the sidelines of its partner event and unveiling of enterprise solutions for data centres and SMEs in Lagos, said the firm is also looking at launching a training centre in the country through CLC Africa a training entity owned by the Mart Networks Group to help enable partners with training in all aspects of information communications technology (ICT).

    He stressed the  importance of educating the local market on the direction of where the industry is heading.

    “We are living in an era where technology seems to control what we do more and more with each passing day. This means the demand for data is growing hence a big demand in IT services and data centres. This is where the region seems to be heading. We urge partners to invest time and resource in the data centre space and IoT (Internet of Things).

    “Our key objective is offering cutting edge technology and solutions embedded with in depth training to our partners who can then ensure that the end customer gets the latest technology with the best local support available,” he said.

    The firm, part of the Mart Networks group that has a distribution network spanning the Middle East and Africa with over 20-year experience in the industry in over 20 countries with local presence in eight countries, it has a partner base of more than 1000 partners.

    Maloo said the firm strives to provide cutting edge technology by partnering with vendors that are leaders in their areas of specialisation ranging from solutions for the enterprise market and SMEs, adding that it prides itself in being a one-stop-shop for all IT solutions by distributing products for global tech giants such as Sophos, Siemon, Arista networks, all leaders in network security, data centre cabling and data centre switching respectively.

    “In addition to these solutions, we also distribute other enterprise solutions from Edgecore (switching and wireless), 24 online (internet management), Neox (IP PBX). In addition, we partner with vendors such as Netgear, a leader in SME networking solutions for switching, wireless, routing and storage. Aside that, we have GIGANET (structured cabling, SME switches, CCTV), Zycoo (IP PBX) among other solutions needed in the SME space,” he said.

    Regional Head for Siemon, Mr. Olajide Olagbenro spoke about cabling and other data centre solutions that Siemon offers.

    He said buildings are now becoming smart and apps such as CCTV, lighting, access control and other solutions are moving from traditional cabling systems to internet protocol (IP)-based using Category 6A (CAT6A) and CAT 7A systems which support data rates of 10G up to 100 metres and a bandwidth of up to 500 megahertz (MHz) have started to grow in popularity.

  • Militancy: DHQ hands over training centre to Navy

    Militancy: DHQ hands over training centre to Navy

    To enhance specialised skills of the Armed Forces and other security services, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has handed over the Joint Maritime Security Training Centre (JMSTC) to the Nigerian Navy (NN).

    This move was as a result of the threats to the maritime domain especially the creeks, back waters posed by militants in the Niger Delta and the riverine communities of Lagos and Ogun states.

    Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin while handing over the centre to the NN said it would ensure a more efficient management of maritime assets and capabilities in line with similar institutions such as the United States Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School (NAVSCIATTS).

    Represented by the Chief of Defence Training and Operations, Maj.-Gen. Ahmed Mohammed, Gen. Olonisakin expressed hope that the JMSTC would become a centre for excellence in maritime security for the West African sub-region.

    He said: “The idea of establishing JMSTC was mooted in the wake of thr increase in sophistication and types of crimes in our maritime domain. It was conceptualised by the DHQ and the British Military Advisory Training Team (BMATT) and the centre was established in 2009 with the mandate of enhancing the human capacity of personnel of the Armed Forces in littoral and riverine operations.

    “It is a unique training institution in the sense that it is the only centre of its kind in Nigeria where security personnel are trained to acquire specialised skills in order to operate in the maritime domain.”

    The CDS said though the centre has done well in the past eight years, a recent assessment conducted by the DHQ showed that for better utilisation, it should be administered and controlled by the NN, which has expertise in maritime matters.

    He said: “It is therefore expected that the NN would ensure the vision of training personnel from other services and security agencies continue woth the same tempo.

    “I strongly believe that the centre would be better repositioned to effectively carryout its duties in line with the objectives of establishing it.

    “The centre was handed over to NN because it is better positioned to control and bring necessary assets within its purview to take it to the next level.

    “Every asset in the centre has been handed over fully to the navy. We expect the navy to review what they have seen on ground. If there are observations and other things they think need to be done to upgrade the centre, they will forward to DHQ for necessary actions.”

    In his remark, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas, who was represented by the Chief of Training and Operations, Rear Admiral Adeniyi Osinowo said security forces would continue to receive quality training in waterman ship, boars handling, weapon handling and underwater warfare to enable them address challenges in the nation’s wsterways and the creeks.

    Vice Admiral Ibas said plans were on to ensure that access to the training was expanded to accommodate other agencies and services that haven’t had the opportunity.

    He assured the CDS and other stakeholders that the concept would not change, adding that the NN would improve the quality of training to enhance manpower to address contemporary issues.”

    Earlier, the Commandant, JMSTC, Captain Alexander Bingel said over 3,000 military personnel and officials of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been trained since the establishment of the centre.

    At the event were the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Naval Training Command (NAVTRAC), Rear Admiral Ifeola Mohammed, Chief Staff Officer (CSO), Western Naval Command (WNC) Rear Admiral Thaddeus Udofia, Commander, NNS WEY, Commodore Mohammed Nagenu, Commander, 465 Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Hospital, Air Commodore Benjamin Okunola, and representatives of the British and United States military.

  • Training centre launched

    Prime Innovation Institute of Technology (PIIT), in partnership with Aptech Computer Education (ACE) and Cisco, has opened a new training centre in Lekki, Lagos.

    PIIT’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Joe Ebinum, said the centre is to bring Information Communication Technology (ICT) education closer to more people and also build ICT professionals that will become entrepreneurs.

    According to him, ICT skills will enable granduants to become employers of labour, grow the economy and prevent over reliance on white-collar jobs.

    “Most companies today are looking for entrepreneurs and solution providers and not paper certificates.  Companies want people who have something to offer and can solve  problems.”

    Ebinum appealed to the government to encourage youths by developing the ICT sector, rather than leave it to the private sector alone.

    ACE Business Marketer for Ajah and Lekki branches, Mr Princewill Ogunachara, added that the centre will help more people to acquire IT skills, while also enabling them, to be skilled and job reed.

    “We train our students to be IT professionals and offer our grandaunts s different opportunities and platform that will enable them stand out,” he said.

  • Southsouth missing out on training centre, says Provost

    THE Provost, Federal Training Centre (FTC) in Calabar, Lady Veta Majoroh, has urged Southsouth states, particularly its host, Cross River, to take advantage of the centre to improve their manpower.

    She said the centre also got accreditation to offer diploma, which trainees can also use to pursue their careers.

    The centre is one of six established in the country to cater for junior and middle cadre manpower needs of the civil service.

    Mrs Majoroh said: “At present, the curriculum has changed from what it used to be, from just awarding certificates. Now, we also award diploma certificates. There are six FTCs – Maiduguri, Kaduna, Ilorin, Lagos, Calabar and Enugu – and the essence of the one here is to capture the Southsouth.

    “However, most people in the southsouth are not taking advantage of the FTCs, especially the Cross River State people. We expect that most of their workers should be coming for in-service courses to improve on themselves, but most of them do not really take advantage of the centre here,” she said.

    Mrs Majoroh, who spoke in Calabar, singled out Bayelsa for praise for training many of its workers at the centre.

    “I use this opportunity to congratulate the Bayelsa State government, because every year they send a lot of staff to come and train. The essence is to improve the civil service and the manpower needs and also at the same time create a career. So, for those who did not have the opportunity to go to a university, this is a way of improving themselves. It is like a form of adult education.

    “We are aimed at manpower development, so that the civil service is not stagnated. One of the transformation agenda of the president is manpower development for effective running of the civil service for results. It is only when they go on courses to learn modern trends that they would know how to handle their jobs in their various offices. The FTCs are one of the key areas where the middle and junior level manpower can key into the transformation agenda.”