Bianca Iboma-Emefu
Over 50 out-of-school children registered by the House of Rammah Foundation in Ikotun community in Lagos State have been empowered with vocational training skills to boost entrepreneurship and make them financially independent.
The out-of-school kids were drawn from three states, Lagos, Ogun and Osun. The convener of the initiative, Risikat Adisa, explained that skill acquisition workshop, was the forum that afforded the kids the opportunity to acquire skills that would help them, to secure gainful employment, as well as increase their income and earning potentials.
Adisa said the vocations include catering, make-up artistry and decoration, phone repairs, ankara, bead works, shoe making, bags, craft and how to prepare multipurpose soap.
She stated that efforts would be made to execute projects and activities aimed at equipping the beneficiaries to take charge of crucial sectors of the nation’s economy and polity through various trainings, seminars, conferences, town hall meetings and mentorship programmes like this one.
She urged government to create more empowerment avenues and scheme aimed at taking youths out of total dependence on stipends provided for them by their parents and so they can become employers of labour.
Her words: “Many of our youths today lag behind their peers in the scheme of things in the society today; she believed it would change if we persistently addressed it.
“So, in order to correct this imbalance, there is need for aggressive youth empowerment programmes, scholarships to our youths from well-to-do Nigerians, co-operate bodies, vocational and skill acquisition trainings for them, donation of educational materials to those not so privileged among our youths. When these are done, there will be creativity and innovations from the youths which, in turn, will advance the course of our society.’’
Chairperson of the foundation, Mrs. Geena Ojo encouraged the kids to pay more attention to academic excellence, leadership and entrepreneurship, so that they can achieve their dream of becoming the leaders of tomorrow.
Ojo added that the foundation focuses at enabling the children becoming self-reliant, so they can contribute their quota to the development of the nation.