Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Foundation sponsors youths in helicopter operations

By Joke Falaju, Abuja
17 January 2019   |   3:39 am
The Center for Gender Equality, Education and Empowerment (CGEEE), has spearheaded the training of 20 young Nigerians to become international certified Commercial helicopter operators.

Photo: Youtube

The Center for Gender Equality, Education and Empowerment (CGEEE), has spearheaded the training of 20 young Nigerians to become international certified Commercial helicopter operators.

The training of the Nigerian youths, selected across the states of the federation, was spearheaded by the founder of CGEEE, Timipre Wolo, under the Petroleum Development Trust Fund (PTDF), Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, Special Training and Educational Scheme, in collaboration with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Speaking during a fund raising dinner to seek support for beneficiaries of CGEEE Scholarship Initiative (CSI) in Abuja, Wolo said she initiated a pioneer job creation partnership with the private sector for an 18-month internship that culminated in employment of 15 of the young budding pilots into positions hitherto held by expatriates to boost employment in the country.

She said some of the beneficiaries include Tosin Ajibola from Kwara State, and the first female helicopter pilot from Katsina State, Ruqayat Suleiman, along with three other young women from Ondo, Rivers and Bayelsa States.

According the organisation, CSI was launched to target young girls from rural communities, orphanages and internally displaced persons in IDPs camps to provide education scholarships that covers tuition, books and welfare including medicals, transportation, feeding, clothing and other incidentals.

Wolo noted that the rationale behind providing a comprehensive scholarship programme was to ensure that the girls remain in school, having become victims of circumstances they had no control over.

She submitted that it is sad to note that the young girls, who should ordinarily be in school are actually assigned the responsibilities of fending for themselves.

“As the Federal Government has directed that all IDPs return to their home towns, the truth is most them have nothing to go back to. So, our concerns at the CGEEE are the girls most of whom are being married off, molested, raped and in many cases end up with unwanted pregnancies,” she said.

She added that CGEEE as part of its plan to expand the scope for women empowerment, also organised a mentorship initiative named Queen Arise, tagged: “Discover, Believe, Take Charge”, to join hands with partners in creating opportunities and enabling environment for women to start, grow and thrive their business.

In this article

0 Comments