Alleviating Poverty

Why we're creating jobs, upskilling women, youths for opportunities

----lawmaker

By Ebunoluwa Sessou 

As part of efforts to create jobs and upskill people for employability and entrepreneurship opportunities, the Gbolahan Olusegun Yishawu Foundation GOYF, has graduated about 150 students on human capital development skills.

During the graduation ceremony, the founder, GOYF, Engr. Gbolahan Yishawu while addressing the students disclosed that, the initiative is geared towards taking people out of poverty as well as encourage those who are already making money to be able to make more money.

The lawmaker representing Eti-Osa constituency 2, Yishawu, said that, the students graduated from three different programmes including Women Vocational Centre, Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, WAPA, Acquisition centre, Lagos State government as well as Digital Upskill Acquisition through the Gbolahan Olusegun Yishawu Foundation, GOYF. 

According to him, the Women's Vocational Training Programme was designed to provide a safe and comfortable learning environment for women within the constituency to cultivate their skills in their chosen trades and professions. 

"Our objective is to educate, retrain and furnish them with the required knowledge, skills and expertise to foster their employability and entrepreneurial success.  

"Plans are ongoing to partner with the Lagos State Technical and Vocational and Education Board, LASTVEB, to further improve the opportunities available to our applicants with respect to curriculum and proficiency. This of course would extend our current 3-months programs to 6 or/and 9-months.

"The Vocational Training Programme on the other hand was conducted in partnership with the Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Skills Acquisition Centre and offers a wide array of courses including Computing, Photography, Barbing, Hairdressing, Arts & Beads, Catering, Screen printing, Welding, Aluminium and Fashion Designing. 

"The programme spans 6 months, 9 months and 1 year to ensure that our trainees are well-equipped to master their chosen vocation. So far, we have enrolled and trained over 2,000 students, over 200 of whom have been given the necessary support to kick-start their businesses, having emerged as best students in their class. 

"Till date, the training school has graduated over 100 talented students in various vocations, including Catering, Hair Dressing, Knitting, Tie & Dye, Fashion Design and Soap Making.

 Notably, we have provided start-up tools to over 20 top-performing students in the various vocation of study of each batch.

 This year, being our 2nd set, we are graduating 86 Students, and as it is our custom, we will present start-up tools to 18 of them who have topped their classes.

"Among the 38 students who graduated, 13 received start-up tools for exhibiting exceptional performance during their time in class. 

"For this purpose, we created a Solar-Powered Human Capital Development Hub equipped with 50 laptops and high-speed internet to enable our ambitious individuals within the age bracket of 18 to 35 years up-skill themselves and become employable or self-employed. 

"This is in addition to our already operational Solar-Powered 20-system each ICT Centres in three secondary schools in our constituency solely dedication for the training of our children in these school complexes, namely Osborne School Complex 1, Complex 2 and the Govt College Victoria Island premises. 

" We have collaborated with expert-training firms including Agility Africa, Seed-Builders and EduPoint to provide the course curriculum. 

"At present, the Hub provides training in Data Analytics, Graphic Design, Digital Marketing and Web Development, with the duration of the courses spanning from four to eight weeks. We are in the verge of include new courses such as Project Management, Cyber-security, Software Engineering, Linux, JAVA and Cloud Computing through further collaboration with other specialised training academies, such as INGRYD. 

"These new partnerships are intended to open employability and entrepreneurship opportunities for our graduates. 

"I expect the students to make use of what they have learned. In the past some of the people we empowered used to sell of the tools we give to them because they are not trained and skilled. We have learned from the past mistakes and that is why we have trained students on different skulls and when tools are given, they would know the value of the training. 

I will urge the students to ensure that they utilise the tools to generate income for their families so as to be able to lift themselves up to the next level. 

"Everything we are doing is to make sure the people are self sustaining and they are able to earn money", he said. 

He however thanked the students for their resilience, determination to commence and conclude a course, taking into account all the hurdles and obstacles along the way. 

Meanwhile, Senior Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Environment, Rotimi Akodu, said, the initiative focuses on human capital development to alleviate the challenges of SMEs in the constituency.

"To this end, I will encourage all beneficiaries to take the maximum opportunity of this training to be to contribute to the revenue of the constituency and the state in general.  

"With this initiative, these beneficiaries will become employers of labour. I believe, the rippy effect of the empowerment is the value chain that will be added to the constituency", he said.

One of the students Rifkatu Iliya, the best student in catering programmes, said, "I came from Maiduguri, Borno state to Lagos and today I am a graduate of catering services. I have achieved slots through the GOYF. The lawmaker has empowered thousands of people who were seen as hopeless in the past. It is only a good man with a good wife that could think of doing good to others. His generosity is limitless. 

The lawmaker was helpful and today, I am a proud graduate. I have started making on my own plantain. I have already made N30,000 plantain chips at home. The business has improved and this empowerment will increase my productivity level. This is free market because I did not pay for the training. My husband will be happy to see the equipments that were given to me to improve my business.

Another best student in hair dressing, Udokwu Esther, said, the materials and tools as well as instructors for the training were provided by the lawmaker.

"He supported us throughout the training. This training would spur me to becoming employer of labour. I am ready to make use of every opportunity. I am encouraging every woman to also take this opportunity. This skill is my dream and with the tools given to me, I will set up my hair dressing salon and train others who are interested in the skill", she said.