A total of 500 Nigerian youths now have the skills to successfully start and run their own businesses, following a training by Alliance for Youth Nigeria, as part of activities to mark its second year anniversary and this year’s International Youth Day.
The beneficiaries join more than 15,000 others who have been trained by the alliance since its formation in 2021.
Trainees were pooled from Kano in the North west and Ibadan in the South West of Nigeria.
This year’s commemoration of International Youth Day with the theme “Green skills for youth: Towards a sustainable world” presented the opportunity to showcase the NGO’s effort to curb unemployment.
The participants received training in Solar energy and their installation, Graphics Design and Social Media Management, Beauty Care (make-up, aromatherapy and massage) and Web Development and Digital Marketing.
Also, the alliance equipped exceptional participants with start-up kits to start their businesses.
In his comment at the Ibadan event, the Secretary of the Alliance and Senior Manager, Participant Engagement & Programmes, UN Global Compact Nigeria Network, Tumi Onamade, said investing in the youth is mutually beneficial.
“At the United Nations Global Compact Network Nigeria, we recognize that scaling up action and investing in the youth not only creates economic opportunities but also helps businesses grow and stay sustainable,” he said.
In his address to participants at the Ibadan event, Vice President of the Alliance and Country HR Manager, Nestlé Nigeria PLC, Shakiru Lawal, urged the youths who were gifted start-up kits to use the skills to improve their lives and positively impact their communities.
Expressing his delight on behalf of his colleagues, 34-year-old Mustapha Fasasi, who participated in the solar panel installation training at the Ibadan center, said, “Thanks to the facilitators,the training is of huge benefit to us as it was very easy to understand and implement. We are deeply grateful to the Alliance for investing in upskilling young people and further awarding those of us who excelled at the training with start-up kits. We promise to maximally deploy the skills and tools to commence our businesses”.
For her part, Mariya Ahmad Jibrin, who participated in the Kano training in the graphics design category expressed her gratitude to the Alliance for the experience which has equipped her with the skills to create impactful designs.
She added that the laptop provided to her as a start-up kit was an invaluable and treasured support for her business.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, restated its resolve to continue to champion policies that will promote youth development, particularly in employment creation and entrepreneurship.
“With the huge number of youth entering the labour market annually in Nigeria, and limited job opportunities in the formal sector, skills based entrepreneurship remains a viable option for economic empowerment, job creation especially in the small and medium enterprise sector, and improvement of the general standard of living,” the Permanent Secretary, Abubakar Ismail said in a statement.
Source: Voice of Nigeria