Kunle ADELABU
-Participants get startup kits, certificates, offer for further training at RHODA Centre
169 participants in the 4th Hon. Sanai Agunbiade Skills Acquisition Programme were, on Wednesday, July 2, 2018, graduated after about five weeks of intensive training in Catering & Hotel Management, Make-Up & Beads, Hair Dressing, Soap & Pomade, Tie & Dye and Event Decoration & Planning.
The participants were presented with startup kits by the Ministry of Women Affairs & Poverty Alleviation, which sponsored the programme. They were also offered the opportunity of further training at the RHODA Youth centre.
The training was facilitated by Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, the Ikorodu Constituency I representative and Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly.
The training started on Thursday, May 24, 2018, at the Hon. S.O.B Agunbiade’s Constituency Office in Ikorodu.
The Constituency Office also served as the venue for the graduation ceremony.
Aside from the participants who were drawn from the six Local Government and Local Council Development Areas in Ikorodu division, many others also attended the training from outside the division.
Best participants in each of the six departments are also to be empowered by Hon. Agunbiade during a forthcoming programme.
Hon. Lola Akande, the Honourable Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, while speaking at the ceremony, stated that Governor Ambode is determined to lessen the effects of the economic hardship on women by attaching importance to skills acquisition.
“I wish to congratulate all the Trainees who have successfully completed their short-time vocational training aimed at empowering women to be self reliant.
“As you are all aware, the Lagos State Government, under the able leadership of His Excellency, Mr akinwunmi Ambode, is determined to cushion the effect of the current economic situation on women in particular and this informed the creation of functional 17 Skills Acquisition Training Centres across the five division of the state”, she stated.
“It is noteworthy that Women Empowerment has been a front burner issue for both the past and present leaderships of the Lagos State Government, having identified that the challenges posed by poverty amongst women can only be surmounted through empowerment projects and programmes.
“It is, therefore, in recognition of the foregoing and to further reiterate its commitment to its mandate and promises to the citizenry, that the Lagos State Government, under the leadership of His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, has continued to provide veritable platforms upon which multifarious vocational training programmes can be obtained on a tuition-free basis for the indigents of the state.
“The establishment of 17 skills Acquisition Centres by the State Government, a programme under the purview of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, has been a masterstroke initiative which has helped to serve as panacea to unemployment particularly amongst women and young persons in the state.
“The objective of this training programme is to train women, girls and men alike in various skills and vocations for the purpose of economic empowerment and lifting of their status from dependency to self reliance and level of unemployment to employer of labour.
“I am happy to say that past beneficiaries of our 4 weeks short term vocational training are now contributing to their family’s and societal development”.
The Commissioner enjoined participants and others to avail themselves to the opportunity of accessing loan through the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund to start their businesses.
“In the same vein, the State Government, through the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment, has set up the Employment Trust Fund in the state to promote entrepreneurial activities to assist women in accessing loans for their businesses.
“At this point, I urge women to avail themselves of the opportunities offered by the State Government and also endeavour to continue to improve themselves in all areas of life”, she stated.
Hon. Agunbiade, while speaking, appreciated Gov. Ambode for strengthening and promoting skills acquisition, which he stated, it’s one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) programmes.
“Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has continued to deliver on the mandate of our party, APC. He has continually evolve programmes with great impacts on the people and the state”, Hon. Agunbiade stated while commending Ambode.
“Officially, we have 150 participants issued forms by the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, but at the beginning of the programme, we also had people coming from Ketu, Ojota and other parts of the state for the programme and we cannot send them away.
“Today, aside the 150 participants, we also have additional 19 participants who are not on the Ministry’s register but who are part of the programme from the start because of the quest to acquire skills.
“I want to plead on their behalf that the Ministry should also issue them with certificates so as not to make their dreams unfulfilled”, he pleaded.
“It is a short term training and we are expecting participants to further their training which is why we have brought the Director of the RHODA Youth Centre, Ikorodu, to address you. You have the opportunity of furthering your skills study at the RHODA, a centre which has evolved as a leading skills impacting centre in Lagos State.
“I will also be part of the training when next we shall be doing another edition and I shall also be graduating as someone that has acquired a skill.
“Best participants in each of the six departments shall be honoured and empowered very soon at a forthcoming programme that we are planning”, he assured.
Hon. Nurudeen Solaja, member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Ikorodu Constituency II, also speaking, commended Hon. Agunbiade and Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode for empowering youths and women.
He also appreciated Gov. Ambode for his developmental projects in Ikorodu division and Lagos State as a whole and for implementing APC agenda.
Mrs Tosan Erogbogbo, the Director of RHODA Youths Centre, in her lecture, enjoined participants to further their training after graduation because, according to her, “there are still lots to learn in their chosen skills which the short term course cannot deal with comprehensively”.
She advised them to imbibe honesty, commitment and dedication in their business dealings if they are to be outstanding and successful.
She added that RHODA Centre would afford them the opportunity of learning other areas of their skills, how to write business proposal, etiquette and other important areas of their studies.
Among other dignitaries at the ceremony were Otunba Ganiyu Abiru, Primate Charles Odugbesi, Alhaji Taiwo Longe, Hon. Abiodun Iyiola, Elder Olakunle Olakitan, Hon. Jide Banjoko, Hon. Ayobami Salman, Hon. Omotayo Awolesi and Hon. Gbenga Awobajo among others.
