Over 350 women and youths have graduated from the skills acquisition programme organised by the Sokoto State Government under its citizens’ empowerment initiative.
The programme, coordinated by the state’s Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, followed the recent graduation of 2000 women from another empowerment initiative meant to enhance job creation and tackle poverty.
Speaking at the graduation of the last batch of 132 trainees at the Wamakko Training Centre at the weekend, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said that the overall objective of his administration was to improve the lives of the citizenry by making them self-reliant.
He said that the training, which specifically targeted youngsters, who have dropped out of school, would now give them the opportunity to acquire basic numeric and vocational skills that would make them useful to the society and themselves.
The governor, represented by the state’s Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Musa Ausa, commended the trainees for their diligence during the period of their training, saying government would continue to support them in every possible ways to enable them to realize their objectives in life.
Tambuwal used the occasion to appeal to the entire students of Sokoto State to redouble their efforts in seeking for knowledge as it is the bedrock of any meaningful development.
In her remarks, the Commissioner for Women and Children Affairs, Hajiya Kulu Sifawa, said that the ministry had earlier rehabilitated and trained 132 women in various skills to enable them to confront future challenges.
“In addition, another set of 100 were trained and given start-up capital in skills like tailoring, knitting, among others. We are monitoring the beneficiaries to ensure that they have deployed the skills and assist others in their communities,” she added.
According to her, skills learnt at the Wamakko Training Centre included tailoring, knitting, carpentry, tye and dye, soap making, among others.
Sifawa thanked Governor Tambuwal for approving and funding the programme, urging the trained youths to use the skills they acquired to raise their socio-economic status.
The 123 youths, both males and females, drawn from the different local government areas in the state, were given work tools based on the skills acquired and some amount of money as take-off.
