Federal government has trained and graduated 110 female artisans in the fields of tiling and masonry, Air-condition and refrigeration, generator repairs, electrical works, plumbing and piping under Residential Capacity Building for Female Artisans programme at the Maryam Babangida National Center for Women’s Development (MBNCWD).

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of beneficiaries of the training yesterday in Abuja, Director General of the Center, Dr. Asabe Valita-Bashir, said the Center has in the last few years been training Nigerian women and girls in various skills to empower them so that they can contribute to national development and be self sufficient.

She said so far, the programme has from inception to date trained over 1, 300 young females, making the aforementioned skills to be gender responsive and inclusive.

“The Centre has empowered young women and girls economically, so as to enhance sustainable livelihood and national development.

“This is part of the Centre’s drive to achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by training a new corps of skilled female artisans who will in turn have access to affordable and excellent basic required skills in today’s construction industry in collaboration with the Association of Professional Female Builders of Nigeria.”

Dr. Valita-Bashir noted that the set of skills acquired by those trained are usually dominated by the male counterparts hence the acquisition of these skills by beneficiaries gives women an edge breaking through a male dominated hand work.

She adds that “The Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development as an agency which represents a rich endowment by Nigerian women for the practical manifestation and emancipation of women and young girls through education, self-achievement and mobilization, noted the evidence based paucity of skilled female artisans in the construction industry and further noted that the performance in the sector has nothing to do with the sex of individuals, and in response designed the Project ‘Residential Capacity Building for Female Artisans.

“Artisanship jobs such as tiling and masonry, air-condition and refrigeration, generator repairs, electrical works, Plumbing and piping, have long been seen as male preserves and in the past, gender biased.”

According to the DG, “Some of the Female Artisans will readily address basic artisanship needs in the rural communities, especially in areas where men are not allowed to enter places habited by women for cultural and religious reasons.

“In other to meet with the current day challenges of sustainable energy supply; for the first time participants of the Female Artisan Programme were taken through solar installation training; which was supported and facilitated by SIMBA Group, a great partner of the Centre.”