Ogun vocational programmes engage 150 youths

No fewer than 150 youths in Ogun State are currently undergoing training in various vocations towards making them self-reliant and productive.

The beneficiaries are the fourth batch of participants, who are undergoing vocational and skill development programmes of the State Government through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

The Commissioner of the Ministry, Mrs. Abiola Kufile Okonjie, told journalists in Abeokuta recently that the trainees are undergoing training in hairdressing, catering, barbing, costuming and tailoring.

Kufile disclosed that the duration of the trainees’ apprenticeship ranges from three months to one and a half years, depending on the scope of the training, saying the government was determined to sustain the scheme until unemployment among youths in the State was reduced to the barest minimum.

She said: “Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration is determined to tackle unemployment head long and one of the strategies put in place is to ensure that any youth interested in learning any particular skill will be encouraged to be self-reliant and productive to the society.”

Kufile urged the trainees to seize the opportunity of the training to translate the skills they have acquired into veritable means of livelihood that would be worthwhile.

The Commissioner solicited the partnership of individuals, philanthropists, government and non-governmental organizations, especially the existing partners in the micro credit scheme to get actively involved in the socio-economic development of citizens by complementing the efforts of the State government through the empowerment of the trainees after graduation.