The Nation Newspaper

Tag: training

  • 10,000 youths to undergo skills development training

    10,000 youths to undergo skills development training

    The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) is set to begin the second phase of its National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP).

    The scheme is under SMEDAN’s National Enterprises Development  Programme ( NEDEP) training  in 18 states.

    A statement by the SMEDAN’s Corporate Affairs Unit said the flag off ceremony would be performed by the agency’s Director-General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda.

    The NIDSP programme is under a tripartite arrangement among ITF, SMEDAN and the Bank of Industry (BOI).

    The training is designed to cover 10, 000 participants, who will be trained in 54 centres across the 18 states.

    Earlier this year, SMEDAN trained over 10, 000 graduates of ITF vocational skills training on entrepreneurship and business development under the NIDSP programme.

  • 64 get training in cloth making

    Sixty-FOUR students have completed a skills training in industrial  pattern-making and sewing machine technology at the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Human Capital Development Training Centre (HCDC) in Lagos.

    The training was facilitated by Style House Files, the NEPC and the Vlisco Nigeria to promote the garment manufacturing industry and create jobs.

    It was also to upgrade the technical skills, improve quality and productivity as well as efficiency level in the industry. This is in the hope of boosting non-oil exports.

    The 64 students were the second set to undergo the eight weeks intensive training session which exposed them to industrial pattern making, sewing machine technology and related matters.

    According to a statement by the organisers of the programme, 16 students were trained in industrial pattern making, while 48 were trained in sewing technology.

    The programme acheived a higher success rate in comparison to previous editions, with five per cent dropout rate and 98 per cent daily attendance.

    The students proceeded into the industrial training phase where they produced a ready-to-wear-collection.

    Vlisco Nigeria Country Manager, Mr. Adebisi Yeye-Adekunle, said: “Vlisco is committed to facilitating solutions that empower creative people with skills and revenue generating opportunities within the textile and garment sector of the economy, an industry we believe will be very crucial in Nigeria’s future economic landscape.”

    He said the top  five students – Grace Ogwu, Simon Nneamaka, Bolaji Busari, Bukola Kumolu and Anu Akinrinwa – will be presented with eight sewing machines while the best student will also get a cash prize from Vlisco.

  • Etisalat holds training for Flash Fiction writers

    Etisalat plans to hold a workshop to enhance the skills of budding writers ahead of the call for submission of entries for the Etisalat Flash Fiction Award.
    The workshop is scheduled to hold at the Etisaat Training Facility in Oriental Hotel Office Complex, Lagos, today.
    The workshop will be facilitated by Ellah Allfrey, an Editor and Patron of Etisalat Prize for Literature, and Richard Ali, a lawyer, poet and author.
    Director, Brands and Experience, Etisalat Nigeria, Elvis Ogiemwanye, said the telco saw the need to organise the training session after the panel of judges for the Etisalat Flash Fiction Award announced that there will be no winner for the 2016 Flash Fiction Prize as none of the entries received met the levels of creativity, quality and excellence required for the award of the Prize.
    “The workshop is our attempt at ensuring that the expectations of the Flash Fiction Award is properly communicated and well understood by aspiring participants. We believe that this will in turn lead to a significant improvement in the quality of the entries that will be submitted for this year’s Flash Fiction Award,” he said.
    The 2015 edition of the Flash Fiction Award was won by Modupe Ojuolape Kuti. She clinched the prize with her short story “Gone,” while Jacqueline Uche Agweh and John Chidi, emerged runners-up for their stories, “Invincible” and “Madness in Degrees”. As a reward, Kuti got £1,000 while the two runners-up got £500 each and mobile devices.
    Etisalat Flash Fiction is an online-based contest for writers of unpublished short stories. It was designed to make African stories easily accessible using digital media.
    The top 50 entries for the 2015 Flash fiction Prize were featured on Okadabooks.com, Africa’s most influential online book hub and store to provide global recognition to the writers.

  • NFC, Kano State partner on film training

    NFC, Kano State partner on film training

    Managing Director of Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), Dr. Chidia Maduekwe has said that the Corporation, under him, has reached an agreement with the Kano State government to train 450 youths from across the 44 local government areas of the state in film production and entrepreneurship.

    The programme is expected to be delivered by the film industry development agency through its training arms; the National Film Institute and Media Arts Studies (NAFIMAS).

    Maduekwe who appeared to have hit the ground running shortly after his appointment as new head of the NFC, said his team has developed a template based on the agreement with the Kano State Government to market this special film training programme to other states of the federation.

    “It is expected that at the end of the special film training, participants will not only be self-employed but employers of labour in their own right,” said the NFC chief.

    The programme, according to Maduekwe, “will massively reduce youth unemployment across the country in keeping with the present administration vision of job creation and diversify the economy by exploiting the potentials of the non- oil sector of the Nigerian economy.”

    Praising the initiative during the interactive forum between the NFC and the film industry stakeholders in Northern Nigeria and swearing-in of new executives of Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) on Sunday, May 7, 2017 at the Tropical Hotel, Kano, Director General, Kano State Film and Video Censor Board (KSFVCB), Mallam Ismail Na’aba described it as a welcome development.

  • Free management training for Lagos community

    Free management training for Lagos community

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Province 58 Ginti-Ikorodu has organised free project management training for members of the church and the public.

    The province Pastor, Godwin Obadan said the training was initiated by the spiritual head of the church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye to meet the needs of people of the community where the church operates.

    “This programme was at fulfilling one of our cardinal missions, which is to affect members of our host community positively, to be a blessing to our community which is a directive from our spiritual head, Daddy Adeboye. As a church, we must not only impact on them spiritually; we should also impact on them physically.

    “That was why we felt we should organise a programme that will improve the well-being of members of our host community,” he said.

    Speaking further on what motivated the church to organise the seminar, Obadan said: “We discovered that most people don’t know how to manage what they have and everything about life is a project. So, your ability to manage yourself will always rub off on your ability to manage minute unit of project in your life.”

    Explaining why he chose project management training for the church and the public, he said: “Everything about life is a project, so, once you learn about project management, you can manage business, you can manage your life and you can manage your community. So, we feel that way we will improve life and improve our society.

    “Last year, we organised skill acquisition programme in which about 800 people participated. The participants were Muslims, Christians and non-believers. Those who were empowered then have become employers of labour.

    “But this time, we are thinking of having it when students would be on vacation, so that they can participate.”

    About 400 people participated in the project management programme.

    The Managing Partner of Oak Interlink Company Limited, a project management firm, Seye Kolawole said: “I think they’ve received sufficient knowledge about project management. They’ve gained some useful project management skills that they can immediately deploy on their businesses.”

    A participant Fumilola Dan-Agboola thanked the organisers for giving her the opportunity to get the knowledge of what project management is all about.

    On what she gained at the seminar, Dan-Agboola said: “I may not be a project management expert but I am sure I can now stand by an expert and talk about project management. There are five processes in project management; namely initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling.”

    The convener of the programme, Deacon Tosin Akande said the response and turnout shows that people are willing to learn, adding that they only need the opportunity and information to learn. Deacon Akande, who is also the church choir coordinator said: “We create much awareness about the programme and that is why you can see this huge crowd. We went on social media, distributed handbills, media publication and sustained announcement during our church services.

  • Nigeria loses over N300bn annually to overseas training

    Nigeria loses over N300bn annually to overseas training

    Nigeria is losing over $1billion (about N300bn) in foreign exchange to overseas training annually, the Director-General, Centre for Management Development (CMD), Dr Kabir Kabo Usman has said.

    The CMD is the nation’s foremost human resources management outfits created by the federal government under Act No 51 of 1976.

    Usman who spoke in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja at the weekend disclosed that the federal government spends millions of dollars on training and capacity building of her personnel in various foreign countries on a yearly basis.

    The CMD boss, who lamented the extent of capital flight as a result of this development, blamed it on what he described as ‘financial indiscipline’ among certain administrators in the government circle who are insensitive to the danger this act poses to economic development, especially, at a time when everyone is calling on the government to revive the nation’s ailing economy.

    The CMD, he stressed, feels concerned that Nigeria had annually been wasting more than $1billion on overseas training that is obtainable in the country while a fraction of such training expenditure for government officials can easily generate 100, 000 new jobs at home

    “We had about 500, 000 Nigerians going for one type of overseas training or the other annually; even if we only spent about ten thousand dollars on each one of only 100, 000 of them, we are talking about $1billion.

    “If you convert that to Naira even at a lower rate of N300 to a dollar, it tells you that we were spending at least N300 billion.

    “If we have only one per cent of the local content of training being domesticated, we will save at least one billion naira and you can imagine the kind of jobs, about 100, 000 jobs that we can create in this country,” he asserted.

    Thankfully, the Kano-based technocrat said the CMD have equipped its staff to the extent that they can deliver most of these capacity-building trainings people go for abroad.

    “We have sharpened the skills and competencies of our staff by exposing them to various international trainings. What is left is for us to cascade what we have acquired to the grassroots for higher productivity. In the same vein, in 2015 alone, CMD trained over 2000 personnel from both the public and private sectors on capacity-building programmes,” Usman stressed.

  • Group seeks training to boost local content

    Group seeks training to boost local content

    • To inaugurate NEC today

    The Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN) has said proper training of Nigerian workers is the only  guarantee toward local content development in the oil and gas industry.

    The OGTAN’s President, Dr.   Mayowa Afe stated this, adding that domestication of oil and gas trainees would save the country billions of dollars and create more jobs opportunities for Nigerians

    Mayowa gave the advice in a statement issued and signed by the OGTANS’ Director of Media Communications, Mr. John Itua, in Lagos to sensitise stakeholders on the forthcoming inauguration of the OGTAN’S national executive council slated to hold on April 13 at Eko Hotel and Suites.

    The Inauguration will have the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) as the Guest Speaker and he will speak on the topic: “Increasing indigenous participation and capacity development in the oil and gas industry – The journey so fa.r”

    The OGTAN chief said: “There is need to standardise training to get more value; training should be domesticated to handle issues that are peculiar to our environment and generate adequate human capital for our oil and gas industry and even enough for export because training is key to local content development.

    “We want to discourage portfolio trainers – people who just walk into companies to organise trainings; invite trainers and after that, walk away,” he said.

    He said OGTAN’s vision is to develop a Nigerian oil and gas training business group that interfaces with the operators, international organisations and government, to ensure a total human capacity development in the industry and the attainment of the Nigerian Content goals. OGTAN was formed with the support of the Nigerian Content division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to address the manpower development needs of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

    “If the majority of oil and gas trainees is done locally in Nigeria, it would address issues of foreign exchange challenges confronting the sector.  The issues of foreign exchange should be addressed through domestication of activities.

    “Government agencies, institutions, international oil and gas companies should partner with OGTAN to invest in developing trainers in-country,’’ he said.

    Mayowa noted that OGTAN which is the independent umbrella group of training service providers in the oil and gas sector was established by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Act of 2010.

    According to him, OGTAN represents the Education and Training Sectoral Group of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF) under section 58 of the NOGICD Act 2010, with the purpose to build local human capital capacity in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

    Mayowa said the association acts as a business group that interfaces with operators, international organisation and the government, adding that national executive council will be inaugurated in Lagos at Eko Hotel on April 13.

    “The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, an engineer, will be presenting the keynote paper at the event. The Executive Secretaries of the PTDF and NCDMB will be honoured and decorated at the event as strategic partners of OGTAN. This is in recognition of their roles in human capacity development in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

    “OGTAN will also be participating in the 2017 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) to enable our members interact with international training organisations with the aim of partnering with them in other to domesticate  more oil and gas trainings in Nigeria,” he said.

  • Spotlight on skills training, empowerment

    Spotlight on skills training, empowerment

    Title: Handbook of skill acquisition training and empowerment programmes
    Reviewer: Sunday Onyewonsa
    Author: Dr. Benjamin Onoriode Irikefe
    Publisher: International Centre for Sustainable Development
    Pages: 824

    Handbook of Skill Acquisition Training and Empowerment Programmes  is one of the first holistic books ever published on skill acquisition and empowerment worldwide. Most works on bookstands across the globe on skill acquisition are vocation-based.

    This 824-page book is structured into five parts that lucidly exposes the “quadrant of skill acquisition” and empowerment concepts. Part one covers skill acquisition and its associated foundational concepts. It comprises of two chapters that provide a practical background to the quadrant.

    Part two covers entrepreneurship and soft skills for business success. This part has two chapters that respectively covers entrepreneurship development and soft and life skills for personal and business success from author’s field experience angle.

    Part three covers critical considerations which are associated with successful training execution. These include training actualisation framework, starter packs and associated concepts, post training mentorship and management of unusual training situations; without which skill acquisition and empowerment programmes may not yield positive results.

    Part four tackles the reintegration and empowerment of sub-state groups such as ex-militants, Civilian (JTF) Joint Task Force Members and Repentant Nigerian Ex-Boko Haram Operatives.

    Part five, which is the concluding part of the book, talked about the consideration of critical success entities, proposed interventions from Skill Acquisition to Post Training Empowerment through institutional collaborations.

    The book is a product of over 25 years of the author’s involvement in training of ex-militant and non-militant youths and persons; amnesty programme activities; and general skill acquisition training and mentoring programmes. Practical demonstration of concepts which gives a vivid account of the author’s experiences and activities are the unique features of the book. The recommendations therein are capable of solving numerous societal problems and stand as reference material for academic pursuits.

    The book elucidates the following key elements of skill acquisition training and empowerment programmes, among others:

    A holistic skill acquisition training and empowerment programme should comprise of four components namely: Vocation specific training; soft and life skills training; entrepreneurship development training; and Post-training empowerment. This is what the author has enunciated as the “Quadrant of skill acquisition”.

    Starter Packs for beneficiaries of skill acquisition training programmes should be provided and made available to trainees before they exit their trainings and specific training in the usage and application of the Starter Packs should be taught to them as well.

    Vocational and technical education should be taught alongside and within conventional academic curriculums so that graduates can be equipped with vocation specific trades with which they can eke out a living, after graduation.

    Graduates Enlistment Programmes should be undertaken to help graduates of tertiary institutions unlock their creative and vocational potentials so that they can be involved in vocation specific trades or MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) that can help them eke out a living.

    Operationalisation and reporting templates are needed for effective and successful training programmes (over 100 templates are provided in this book).

    Continuous provisions are needed to re-integrate and empower ex-militants, civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) members and deradicalised repentant ex-Boko Haram operatives to enable them lead self-reliant, productive and wholesome livelihoods.

    Critical success entities must consolidate their interventions from skill acquisition up to post-training empowerment through institutional collaborations to lift MSMEs and artisanal training outfits and artisans.

    Trainers’ qualities of being proactive, accommodating and passionate when managing trainees and also avoid monetisation of training programmes should be their target.

    Provision of skill acquisition trainings is one of the time-honoured  programmes that can be effective in combating global insecurity, poverty and to prevent destabilisation of the international system.

    The above features are vividly and practically explained to equip trainees, trainers, mentors, mentees, and other stakeholders who wish to venture into skill acquisition training and empowerment programmes.

    It is, however, a good resource and tool for the nation and the world at large, especially in this critical economic period if the prescriptions are adopted by the relevant authorities.

     

  • SPONSORED REGIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMME ON NEGOTIATION SKILLS

    SPONSORED REGIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMME ON NEGOTIATION SKILLS

    SPONSORED REGIONAL TRAINING PROGRAMME ON NEGOTIATION SKILLS

     (May, June, 2017)

     

    UONGOZI Institute (also known as the Institute of African Leadership for Sustainable Development) is a regional institution which aims to support leadership capacity development throughout Africa. The Institute’s programmes target leaders in public, private and civil society organizations. Through training, research, policy dialogue and knowledge sharing, we seek to inspire leaders and promote the recognition of the important role of leadership in sustainable development.

     

    In collaboration with the Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment (CCSI) of Columbia University in New York, and the International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP), UONGOZI Institute is organizing a regional training program on negotiation skills. The programme will have two tracks:

    • Negotiation Skills for International Trade Agreements (May and June, 2017)
    • Negotiation skills for Natural Resources – with a focus on oil and natural gas commercial contracts (May and June, 2017)

     

    The courses will employ a blended approach involving lectures, presentations, discussion, sharing of practical experiences, role play simulations and case studies. Both courses will be conducted in English.

     

    Target Audience:

     

    This training programme targets senior officials (Assistant Director and above or equivalent) from Attorney General’s Chambers and Ministries responsible for Finance, Industry & Trade, and Energy and Minerals.

    • For Track 1 – Negotiation Skills for International Trade Agreements, applications are invited from – Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Tanzania, and the EAC and SADC secretariats.
    • For Track 2 – Negotiation skills for Natural Resources, applications are invited from – Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ghana, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Tanzania

     

    30 candidates will be selected for each track of the programme.

     

    Duration

    • Both tracks will be held in May and June, 2017 (specific dates will be communicated to successful candidates).

     

    Location

    Arusha – Tanzania.

     

    Participation Costs

     

    This programme is fully sponsored and will cover all costs associated with participants’ travel, learning and training materials, meals and accommodation.

     

     

    Selection Criteria:

    In order for applications to be considered, candidates must:

    1. Have a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized higher learning institution
    2. Hold the position of Assistant Director and above or equivalent

     

    In addition, candidates will be expected to:

    1. Demonstrate commitment to participate in two sessions for the selected track. The two tracks will have two sessions of between 3-5 training days each.
    2. Be proficient in both written and spoken English

     

    How to Apply:

     

    Please submit your application along with:

    1. A detailed CV
    2. A one page essay not exceeding 500 words explaining your motivation for applying to the Programme and how the knowledge gained will be applied to benefit the candidates institutions/employer
    3. A signed commitment/recommendation letter from the candidate’s employer
    4. Apply through the email below

     

    Applications and the required documentation should be addressed to:

    The Chief Executive Officer

    UONGOZI Institute

    No. 62 Msasani Rd., Oyster Bay

    1. O. Box 105753

    Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Email: mkinyonge@uongozi.or.tz

     

    Deadline for Receiving Applications:

     

    Friday, 7 April, 2017

    Successful candidates will be notified by 21st April, 2017

     

     

     For more information contact Ms. Maria Kinyonge:  mkinyonge@uongozi.or.tz; Tel: +255 22 2602917

     

  • ECOWAS advocates training for lawmakers

    The ECOWAS Parliament has advocated  inclusion of legislative practices and procedure in African universities’ curricula.

    This, it said, would help improve the quality of lawmaking and democratic process.

    Its Secretary-General, Dr. Nelson Magbagbeola, said the legislative processes of West African states needed to be harmonised as the region worked towards economic integration.

    He spoke in Lagos at a workshop on Comparative Parliamentary Practice and Procedure for Parliamentary Workers of ECOWAS Member States, drawn from three linguistic groups, namely Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone.

    It was organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NLS), an organ of the National Assembly, in collaboration with ECOWAS Parliament and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF).

    Magbagbeola said the quality of legislative workers and lawmaking needed to be improved through specialised training, to equip African parliaments to discharge their oversight functions.

    “We want to encourage the universities to have curriculum on legislative practices and procedure.  It’s important that we are ready to sustain the democratic process.

    “Most of the officials in the executive arm of government are well trained. But there is asymmetric knowledge between officials of the legislature and the executive. It’s not easy to carry out oversight functions on people who know more than you do.

    “That is why we need to enhance the capacity of the parliamentary workers and the members of parliament. If a parliamentarian is not versed in financial reporting, how will he ask questions on oversight duties at ministries, departments and agencies? So we want to bridge that gap with this sort of training,” he said.

    The former Speaker, National Assembly of Burkina Faso, Prof. Melegue Traore, who was one of the resource persons, said the quality of legislation needs to improve if African parliaments must better control public policies.