83 Nigerian beneficiaries of Jaiz Foundation-sponsored flexible skill development programme graduate

Eighty three youths, sponsored by the Jaiz Charity Development Foundation, have completed flexible short skills development courses in vegetable farming, video camera operation and editing at the Flexible Skills Development Centre of the Yaba College of Technology in Lagos.

The Centre, established by Yabatech in April 2016 in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), was aimed at developing and teaching Non-formal courses.

The graduates went home with tools and cash to start their own businesses. Speaking during the graduation, Imam Abdullahi Shuaib, the Chief Executive Officer of the JAIZ Charity Development Foundation  said the foundation sponsored the programme “because it is in line with its focus area”.

Shuaib said: “When we look at it, we see that the skill acquisition courses are in line with our focus area and after dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s, today, it has become a success story.

“We are showcasing a set of Nigerians, who have passions, commitment, and equally determined to show the good work that Yabatech is doing, particularly through the centre.

“Go out there and show the world that the programme is not only doable but can make a positive impact on the larger society.

“With this, other people will give it the required attention and expand it beyond what it is today,” Shuaib said.

According to him, the tools and cash given to the graduates were meant to help them start businesses immediately.

“We have no doubt that we are all set to open a new page and do something positive for ourselves, our immediate families, environments and our country as a whole.

“Always have positive mind-sets. “What we are doing today may look so small but I want to assure you that as small as it is today, you have acquired the required skills.

“We want you to be, not just entrepreneurs, but mentors for those who have been sitting on the fence or those that felt it was just a mere talk at the starting point.”

CEO of the Foundation urged the college to have a monitoring unit to track the activities of the graduates. He promised that the foundation would provide more capital for those that excel in their businesses.

Earlier, the Director of Flexible Skills Development Centre, Dr Ibrahim Abdul said the centre was part of the institution’s community service organ to provide opportunity for people in the immediate environment to acquire skills for sustainable livelihood.

“It also encourages the academic departments in the college to develop and offer short flexible courses to learners with the aim of empowering them to be entrepreneurs,” Abdul said.

Deputy Rector of Yabatech, Mrs Titilayo Ukabam, advised the graduates to start businesses with the skills acquired. That, she said, “is the only way by which they can actualise what they have been thought.

“This is the only way you can continue to grow, because if you delay in starting, the tendency is that you will not actualise your dream, which is the key.”

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“I want to commend your determination to finish the course.

“Today, we are satisfied that you have acquired the skills to stand on your own and keep on growing and contributing to the society as well as increasing your economic base without looking up to anybody or family members before you feed yourselves.

“You need to employ people as well to assist when your business grow bigger. “We expect that you should become an employer of labours; we don’t want unemployment in Nigeria.”

Ukabam thanked Jaiz foundation for sponsoring the programme.