Mrs Otti vows to support skill acquisition; empowers 233 girls with start up packs
The Society for Family Health(SFH) in conjunction with the National Directorate of Employment ( NDE ) with support from the office of the wife of Abia state governor has trained and empowered 233 graduands of various skills acquisition on catering, fashion designing, hair styling, make up and baking with start up packs.
Handing over the start up packs to the graduands at the Abia state government house today in Umuahia the state capital, the wife of the Governor, Mrs. Priscilla Otti praised the efforts of SFH and NDE for their resilience in training and guiding the participants into becoming expert in their chosen area of skills acquisition.
The Governor’s wife expressed that this project which focused on providing skill acquisition training for our adolescent young girls and women holds a special place in her heart hence it is about job creation and human capacity development.
According to her, “this great initiative absolutely falls in line with Governor Otti’s commitment towards creating jobs, providing enabling environment and quality education for our children and businesses to thrive in the state ” she said.
Again, having witnessed the graduation ceremony of these girls in December 2023, I was profoundly impressed by their acquired skills and their readiness to face life with confidence.
“Today, I am delighted to formally hand over these tools and equipment to these dedicated and resilient young girls as we equip them with essential start-up materials, we acknowledge the transformative power of education and skills in reducing vulnerability, unemployment, crime rates, and enhancing lasting peace in our state” she further stated.
However, Mrs Otti advised the young entrepreneurs not to sell their equipments but to use it and create more wealth for themselves and their families.
In his speech, the programme manager, Society for Family Health Dr. Anthony Nwala, said that SFH is one of the non government organisations operating in Abia state.
“Our focus is to identify the vulnerable people, train them and empower through skills acquisition to start their own businesses.
Like today, we are handing over start up packs to about 233 persons who have gone through our training in various skills acquisition in collaboration with the NDE*, he said.
However, Dr. Nwala thanks the Abia state government led by Gov. Alex Otti for his support and providing the enabling environment for them to operate.
In her contributions, the state director of NDE, Mrs. Tessy Wachuku, commended Abia state government for its show of love starting from the inception of the training to its conclusion.
She described the job of the NDE as an institution that train unemployed people who chooses to learn a skill in the area they are interested.
Wachuku explained that through collaboration with the SFH with support by the Abia state government they are able to train 233 persons and equipped them to start their own businesses.
She advised the participants not to neglect the days of their little beginning but to grow their businesses and empower others.
In their separate remarks, while the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs. Ngozi Felix said that one of the cardinal policies of Gov. Otti is to reduce poverty and unemployment in the state through skills acquisition.
Mrs. Ifeoma Thomas, the special adviser to the Governor on Vulnerable Groups added that by training the vulnerable in skills acquisition means that the state is breaking barriers in the area of unemployment to create a better future for indigent Abians.