By Victor Adeoti
he Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has trained 200 youths and women in vocational skills in Osun.
The beneficiaries were trained under the National Business Skills Development Initiative (NBSDI) and National Vocational and Entrepreneurship Scheme (NVES) in ICT.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants were trained in Fashion, Leather Works and Catering under NBSDI and E-commerce (digital marketing), computer repair and GSM repair under NVES.
Speaking during the official closing ceremony of the training on Friday in Osogbo, the Director-General, SMEDAN, Mr Olawale Fasanya said the objective of the programmes was to deliver upgraded capacity to the selected participants.
Fasanya said this was to improve the productivity and quality of their services while remaining locally and globally competitive.
He said the expected outcomes of the training were improved wealth creation, employment generation and poverty reduction among others.
“As you may be aware, skill development among women and youth is one of the critical priority areas identified by SMEDAN in its pursuit to facilitate and sustain a vibrant Nano Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (NMSME),” Fasanya said.
According to him, this sub-sector will be the major driver of national economic growth and development.
“The NMSME is significant to sustainable economic development and, as such the agency is facilitating the establishment of structured and efficient MSMEs sub-sector that can access all the resources required for their development,” Fasanya said.
In his remarks, the Osun Commissioner for Commerce, Mr Bode Olanipekun described MSMES as the bedrock of the economy of the state.
While describing SMEDAN as a critical stakeholder in vocational development in the state, Olanipekun said that more than 15,000 participants graduated both directly and indirectly from the state’s vocational skills training.
Also speaking, the President of Osun Chamber of Commerce, Mr Bisi Makanjuola said SMEDAN played a vital role in the lives of the people in the state.
Makanjuola urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the training they had received.
One of the participants, Mrs Abimbola Adebiyi said the training had opened their eyes on how to be self-employed.
Another participant, Mr Akinwumi Ishola said the training would assist them to contribute positively to the economy of the state.
NAN reports that laptops, computer repair kits, GSM repair kit, industrial machine for fashion, leather works machine and catering equipment were given to the participants.(NAN)
