By Sunday John
The Federal Government is set to begin training of 2,000 residents in Nasarawa on various skills as part of commitment to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030.
Mr Fela Bank -Olemoh, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to President Muhammadu Buhari on Education Interventions, stated this on Tuesday in Lafia, at the launch of Project T-MAX (TVET Maximisation) initiative in the state.
He said Project T-MAX is a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme, approved by the National Steering Committee on National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS).
Bank-Olemoh said the project being piloted in seven states to train 15,000 citizens was one of the core interventions to achieve the Federal Government’s goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030.
He stated that the main activities of the Project T-MAX in the states would be stakeholders’ engagement, accreditation of TVET Centers, training, monitoring and evaluation among others.
He explained that the project through the TVET centers in the state – public and private, would ensure that they operated at full capacity to train Nigerians desirous of learning various skills to become self-reliant.
”Through this partnership, we will successfully empower over 15,000 Nigerians with skills and also serve as a model for the expansion of technical and vocational skills acquisition across the country,” he stated.
Bank-Olemoh said the portal would be opened on Wednesday, Sept. 7, for residents in Nasarawa to register and choose their preferred skills, adding that the portal would be open for two weeks.
“We will register students, send them to the centers and the Federal Government will pay for their training over the next three months.
“16 skills will be deployed across the states based on their skills gap while some centers will be designated to cater for the physically challenged. 27 TVET centers will be part of the project in Nasarawa .
“The training will be intensive and mostly practical, after which the best applicants will be selected and assisted with starter packs at the end of the training.
“The trainees will be given some stipends to take care of their transportation during the programme,’’ he said.
He listed some of the skills as; Web development, animation, mobile development, graphic design, cyber security, coding, beauty care and cosmetology, leather works, tailoring, ICT solar installation, building and construction, plumbing and fittings, among others.
Bank-Olemoh said the project being implemented in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) would be strictly monitored to ensure its success.
He also challenged the media to follow up on the project for accountability and to ensure its success.
According to him, at the end of the programme, the team will carry out certification, give out starter packs, job placements as well as organise closing events, do tracking and follow ups.
Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa while receiving the project T-MAX team, lauded the Federal Government for the initiative aimed at poverty reduction in the country.
Sule, represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Muhammad Aliyu-Ubandoma, said the project was in tandem with the aspiration of the state government on youth’s empowerment and skills acquisition.
He pointed out that the state government had provided laboratories in the various vocational skills training centers to ensure success of the programme.
The governor maintained that youth empowerment through skills acquisition for self-reliance was critical to addressing criminality and restiveness.
Some of the participating TVET centres representatives, David Ezenaya of Relevant Technology Limited, and Mr Maji Okpanachi of Oshla Global Concept, lauded the Federal Government for the programme aimed at poverty reduction in the country.
They said the programme would go a long way to train Nigerians desirous of learning various skills to become self-reliant.
They said that their centres were prepared with the necessary facilities to carry out the training in line with the programme guideline. (NAN)
