Tech varsity trains youths in skills acquisition
A total of 157 youths from the Niger Delta have completed a two-week intensive training at First Technical University (Tech-U), Ibadan. In a statement, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the university, Femi Babatunde, said the youth empowerment programme was a product of a partnership between the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the university. […]
Director, Economic Empowerment Directorate, Mr. Ibrahim Akanya (right) presents a certificate of completion to one of the beneficiaries while Vice Chancellor, Tech-U, Professor Ayobami Salami (left) looks on.
A total of 157 youths from the Niger Delta have completed a two-week intensive training at First Technical University (Tech-U), Ibadan.
In a statement, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the university, Femi Babatunde, said the youth empowerment programme was a product of a partnership between the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the university.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the training, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Usani, represented by the Director, Economic Empowerment, Mr. Ibrahim Akanya, noted that the empowerment was necessitated by the need to develop the manpower capacity of the Niger Delta.
Pastor Usani said, “We are interested in developing both physical infrastructure and human capital to be able to enhance significantly the quality of living in the Niger Delta region.”
While commending Tech-U for the quality of training given to the beneficiaries, some of who are recent returnees from Libya, Mr. Usani urged the participants to put to good use the skills they had acquired. The beneficiaries were trained in agro-allied ventures such as fishery and poultry, in addition to a host of innovative skills required for successful business operations.
The Vice Chancellor of Tech-U, Prof. Ayobami Salami, said the programme was one of the flagship interventions conceived to fight frontally the rising scourge of unemployment in the country.
Prof. Salami said, “The training, as implemented by the university’s Centre for Technical, Vocational Entrepreneurship Training (TVET), is devoted to equipping individuals with skills acquisition and entrepreneurship training in carefully selected areas of need in the larger society. Aside commitment to bridging the skills gap, the programme is focused on generating self-employment among the teeming youths of the country.