More than 200 beneficiaries of the United Nations Development Programme,(UNDP) skills acquisition programme have been empowered with full business start-up kits in Ekiti.
Speaking during the graduation onThursday in Ado-Ekiti, the UNDP’s Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Programme Lead Team, Mr Mathew Alao, said the programme was inline with the Sustainable Development Goals’ principle of leaving no one behinde.
The six months training was tagged, “UNDP Youth and Women, Victims of Violence and Crises in Ekiti.”
Alao said the beneficiaries were selected through a rigorous screening exercise devoid of political influence were ensure benefitted from the scheme.
The UNDP lead team added that the selected beneficiaries were placed with the Ekiti Board for Technical and Vocational Education,(BTVE), College, Ado-Ekiti for six months skill acquisition in 11 vocations.
He highlighted the skills and their beneficiaries to include, welding and fabrication (8), tailoring(57), catering and decoration(33), hair dressing (20)and leather production(27).
Other were, Plumbing and pipe filting(8), tiling(8), computer and GSM repair(17), POP, screening and painting(8), barbing (9) and electrical installation(5).
He, therefore, admonished the beneficiaries of the full equipment for start-up kits to ensure that they used the items for the purpose of which they are meant for.
” I admonish the beneficiaries to ensure the judicious use of these start up packs, which can’t be less than N250,000 each for the benefit of themselves, their families, communities and Nigeria.
” I am persuaded to express that with the quality of training and discipline that have been impacted into these gradutes and the quality of the start-up packs that were procured for them to establish small scale businesses, poverty is no longer their neighbour,” Alao said.
He however, disclosed that the scheme which is parts of the UNDP’s Pecae Prevention and Peacebuilding Programme is funded by the Government of Norway and UNDP in collaboration with Ekiti State through its BTVE
In his own address, the Chairman, Ekiti BTVE, Mr Kayode Babade, expressed gratitude to the sponsors of the programme for counting Ekiti worthy of benefitting, commending Ekiti Governor, Kayode Fayemi for providing the enabling environment for the programme to strive.
He described the programme as laudable one, while congratulating the graduants.
The BTVE chairman said,” this training programme in no small way reduce unemployment in the state and take the benefitting youths out of the streets as they will be able to set their own trade and be an employers of labour.”
He however sternly warmed beneficiaries not to divert the equipment, threatening that whoever, does will have case to answer.
Speaking in appreciation, duo of Mr Yahaya Mohammed,(POP, painting and Screeding and Miss Kehinde Arisoyin,(Leather work) appreciated the sponsors, promising that the equipment would be used for the purpose they are meant in order for them to contribute their own quotas to the development of the nation’s economy.
The highpoint of the event was the distribution of the starter packs to more than 200 beneficiaries.
There were good will messages from ignitaries, who included, Chief Gboyega Aribisogan, the Majority Leader of Ekiti House of Assembly, Ekiti Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Femi Ajayi and the Executive Secretary of Ekiti BTVE, Mr Abiodun Oguntunji among others