The Federal Government, through the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), has empowered 18,510 newly trained artisans with starter packs to enable them establish businesses and become economically self-reliant.

The beneficiaries were drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and trained under the first batch of the Renewed Hope Vocational and Skills Training Programme.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the programme in Abuja, the National Programme Manager, N-Power, Dr. Nsikak Okon, said the beneficiaries were trained in various vocational skills across more than 230 accredited training centres.

The skills included automobile technology, agricultural technology, baking and confectionery, carpentry and furniture making, cooking and catering, electrical installation, housekeeping and hospitality, jewellery and bead making, masonry, plumbing, welding and fabrication, fashion design and sewing, grinding machine operation, and vulcanising and tyre services.

Okon disclosed that the agency had deployed GPS technology to monitor beneficiaries and track the utilisation of the starter packs.

He said a dedicated portal had also been established to capture the locations and activities of beneficiaries, while a call centre would provide support and address challenges encountered by participants.

“We are using technology. We have already opened a portal where all the beneficiaries, the participants are enrolled inside that portal. We know their location, we track them,” he said.

According to him, the monitoring mechanism was designed to ensure that beneficiaries put the equipment to productive use.

Okon assured beneficiaries of transparency in the distribution process, saying details of the starter packs allocated to each participant were available on the agency’s portal.

He urged beneficiaries who received defective or incomplete equipment to report such cases through the call centre for appropriate action.

The programme manager further disclosed that each beneficiary received N60,000 as transport allowance for the two-week training period.

He explained that the allowance was intended to support participants with transportation costs during the intensive training, which ran from morning until about 5pm daily.

Speaking, the NSIPA National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer, Associate Professor Badamasi Lawal, described the completion of the training as a significant milestone in the Federal Government’s efforts to promote job creation and poverty reduction.

Lawal said some of the vocational equipment distributed to beneficiaries had remained in government warehouses for more than five years before being recovered, refurbished and deployed under the programme.

“These items have been lying for over five years. But today, over 18,000 Nigerians across 36 states and FCT Abuja are well trained for two weeks,” he said.

He said the beneficiaries were not only exposed to technical skills but also received training in entrepreneurship development, financial literacy, business planning, customer relations and enterprise management.

According to him, the additional training was designed to equip beneficiaries with the knowledge required to establish, manage and sustain viable businesses.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard Doro, described the initiative as a deliberate effort to move Nigerians beyond short-term relief and towards sustainable livelihoods.

Doro said the programme was part of the ministry’s broader “One Humanitarian, One Poverty Response” approach, which seeks to create a pathway for vulnerable Nigerians from registration and skills acquisition to productive assets, enterprise development and eventual graduation out of poverty.

He said the distribution of the starter packs represented the transition from training to actual economic activity.

The minister commended the Federal Government for recovering and refurbishing vocational equipment that had remained unused for years, saying the decision would ensure that public assets were put to productive use.

He urged the beneficiaries to make effective use of the equipment, stressing that they were leaving the programme not merely with certificates but with practical skills and tools to begin their trades.

“You are not leaving with a certificate alone, you are leaving with a trade in your hands and the equipment to put it to work immediately,” Doro said.

He added that the success of the programme would ultimately be measured by its capacity to help beneficiaries establish sustainable businesses, create employment and improve their livelihoods.