In Nigeria millions of young adults in emerging economies look for jobs, but fail to find work. In Enugu State (South-East – Nigeria), Hon Mrs. Juliet Egbo, a philanthropist and politician, has taken the bull by the horns, single-handedly funding vocational training programs on skilling rural youth, particularly young women in the State.
Hon Egbo who is the APC Candidate for House of Representatives, Enugu North and South Federal Constituency, held robust training sessions at the De Sheriff Hotel, Enugu to train young girls on skill acquisition and financial literacy.
She said beyond politics, she was using the training as an avenue to empower the youth among more than 200 young girls participated.
No fewer than 200 girls and 83 boys were trained on various vocational skills to make them self-reliant. They were trained on how to make homemade laundry detergent, batting soap, bar soap, liquid soap, car wash hand sanitizers, bleach, different body moisturing creams.and germicides like Izal, Detoil etc.
One of the beneficiaries, who spoke on behalf of others, Angela Ukamaka Nwankwo, commended Mrs Egbo for the programme which she described as highly impactful.
She said the women remained optimistic about the opportunities the training would avail them, adding that it would help them cater for their needs.
While advising beneficiaries to use the skills acquired to liberate themselves from poverty, Mrs. Egbo said the aim is to contribute to eradicating poverty among women, explaining that she would achieve more in capacity building, teaching, mentoring if she is elected into the National Assembly in the February 25, general election.
She said prior to now she has trained 197 women on vocational skills.
According to her, if elected, the training will be broadened and continue periodically to ensure that hundreds of youth benefit from the programme.
She promised to train more youth on technical vacational skills like carpentry, electrician, plumbing, tailoring, welding, culinary arts, graphic design, fashion design, hairdressing, dental hygienist, computer technician, automotive repair, shoe making, fish farming, catering and event management.
She further explained that she has taken her skill and entrepreneur trainings to hard-to reach rural areas, supporting underprivileged, prioritizing young women, thereby empowering them with life skills for self or industrial employment.
Noting that women comprised the largest segment of the adult population in the State’s rural communities, Mrs Egbo said she has long been supporting vocational training and microenterprise development projects aimed to facilitate rural young people’s access to self-reliance.
“If women can lead productive lives in any emerging economy, it is crucial to equip them with practical livelihood skills,” she said.
She assured through her Skill & Entrepreneur Training Initiative, “if I get to the National Assembly, more deserving poor youth, especially young women will be selected quarterly to start income generation and entrepreneur skills. I will be training quarterly 300 young people ages between 18 to 30 years at the initial stage within a year time frame.
“Young people in Nigeria are disproportionately unemployed. Therefore my Skill & Entrepreneur Training Initiative is targeted at providing entrepreneurship skills training program for out of young girls and boys.
‘After the training I will provide them with non-refundable grants so they can have better chance in being financially independent.’ he said.
Report by Chidipeters Okorie
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