Ogun State government said about 100 youths have been empowered across the three senatorial districts in different vocational skills through Public Private Partnership.

According to a statement titled ‘Ogun govt, private firms empower 100 youths’ on Wednesday, they were trained in catering, baking, tie and dye, coding, animation and a arts and crafts.

The training was facilitated by the government in collaboration with two private firms, IHS Nigeria Limited and WeforGood International, both in Lagos.

The State Deputy Governor, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele, while speaking at the graduation ceremony of the trainees in Abeokuta, said the Public Private Partnership initiative of the State Government, had given the youths opportunity to be self-reliance and sufficient.

Salako-Oyedele, who was represented by the Senior Special Adviser to the Deputy Governor, Hon. Raman Salako, through the agency’s spokeswoman, Mrs Oluwakemi Ogungbade, explained that vocational skills were essential to the development and growth of a nation.

She stated that effort of the present administration had brought about the birth of techhub and jobs portal, calling on other private organisations to hunt for talents, to engage youths meaningfully.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Job Creation and Youth Empowerment, Prince Lekan Olude, represented by the Special Assistant to the Governor on Job Creation, Mr Biola Odetola, said job creation was one of the critical pillars of the present administration to deliver the young people from idleness and unemployment.

He noted that skill acquisition programme was a way of delivering the dividends of democracy.

Olude charged the trainees to make good use of the knowledge gained.

“Consider the skill you have as your life, nurture it, live on it daily and the sky will be your starting point, as it will improve your standard of living,” he said.

In her remarks, the Director of IHS Towers Nigeria Limited, Mrs Ama Sholoton, said young people were more likely to be unemployed, compared to adults.

She noted that 14 million youths were unemployed due to the effect of COVID-19 pandemic.

The training, she said, was meant to make the graduands self-reliance and needed to gain technical skill that would make them successful.

Source:- Punch Ng