The MTN Foundation has partnered with CleanAce Foundation and Academy to equip 30 hearing-impaired persons with professional fabric care and dry-cleaning skills.

This was at the launch of the Inclusive Fabricare Skills Empowerment Programme, a vocational training initiative unveiled yesterday in Lagos.

  Designed to address a critical shortage of trained manpower in Nigeria’s fabric care sector while expanding economic inclusion for persons with disabilities, the initiative will run for six months, comprising three months of classroom and practical training, two months of internship with partner dry-cleaning firms, and a final month of assessment and consolidation.

  Speaking at the launch, Founder of the CleanAce Group, Eniibukun Adebayo traced the origins of the programme to a transformative experience with a hearing-impaired employee whose rapid mastery of fabric care skills challenged existing assumptions about disability in the workplace.

  “We gave one person an opportunity, and the way he performed was fantastic. What other people would have learned in a month, he was able to learn in one week. We were so impressed that we started this inclusive fabric care programme on our own. We have now trained six cohorts, and today, MTN Foundation is partnering with us to take it to the next level,” he stated.

  Adebayo noted that the fabric care sector faces an acute demand for skilled workers, with the programme uniquely positioned to address this gap. As Chairman of the Fabricare Professionals and Dry Cleaners Association, he stated that over 200 dry cleaners across Nigeria are ready to employ trained graduates of the programme. Participants who complete the training stand to earn upwards of ₦200,000 monthly, with many going on to start their own businesses.

  He disclosed that applicants must hold a minimum of a secondary school certificate. Successful participants will receive government-recognised certification, developed in collaboration with the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA) and the Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board, described as equivalent to a semi-diploma qualification.

  Senior Manager, Programme Implementation at MTN Foundation, Edward Fagbohun underscored the organisation’s commitment to disability equity and inclusion as a strategic pillar of its corporate social investment mandate.

  “Disability, equity and inclusion is at the core of what we do at the MTN Foundation. In this part of the world, disability is often seen as a stigma. We want to change that narrative and demonstrate that there is ability in disability. This partnership is another avenue through which we can support persons with disabilities to become self-reliant and meaningful contributors to their families and to society,” he said.

  Fagbohun added that MTN Foundation would conduct a thorough impact evaluation upon completion of the pilot phase to determine the scope of any future expansion.

  Human Resource Director at the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA), Mrs. Omolade Sonubi expressed strong support for the initiative, noting that the agency; established under the Lagos State Special People’s Law to protect the rights of persons with disabilities across education, employment, healthcare and social inclusion, was fully committed to the partnership.

  “This initiative has challenged us to think about new ways of integrating more persons with disabilities into corporate organisations. You have demonstrated that disability is not a liability. There is ability in disability,” she said.

  Sonubi commended MTN Foundation for its broader community interventions and called for greater private sector participation in disability inclusion, citing Chicken Republic’s employment of deaf staff as a model worth replicating. She assured both partners of LASODA’s continued support and readiness to collaborate as the programme scales.

   Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of the Association of Sign Language Interpreters of Nigeria (ASLIN), Olubowale Sodeinde described the programme as a landmark step toward meaningful inclusion, calling on other corporate organisations to follow the example set by the partnership.

  “Many deaf people do not need to be on the streets begging. If they are given opportunities like this, they can earn a living and contribute meaningfully to society,” Sodeinde said.

   Founder of Friends of the Deaf International Foundation, Funmilola Ogunro echoed this sentiment, commending the initiative for repositioning persons with disabilities as contributors rather than recipients of charity.

  Ogunro said: “The MTN Foundation and CleanAce Foundation are coming together to empower deaf persons whom society often overlooks. Instead of seeing them as objects of charity, they are being given an equitable opportunity to excel.”

  The impact of CleanAce’s existing inclusion efforts was brought to life by Moses Peter Abba, one of the company’s hearing-impaired employees, who recounted arriving in Lagos in 2017 unable to secure employment despite multiple applications, before finding an opportunity with CleanAce.

  Abba said: “When I got to the factory, I saw professional ironing equipment and thought it looked very technical. They encouraged me to learn, and within a week I had mastered it. After two weeks, I could iron independently on my own table.”

  During the event, there was a guided tour of the CleanAce factory, which offered dignitaries, media, and stakeholders a first-hand view of the training environment that will host the inaugural cohort. Registration opens immediately and is open to Lagos residents registered with LASODA who hold a minimum of a secondary school certificate.