The federal government in partnership with Yikodeen Footwear Limited has commenced a free leatherwork training for 100 people in Lagos.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President for Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education (SSATVEE), Abiola Arogundade, stated yesterday that the programme is aimed at addressing youth unemployment in the country.
Speaking after an inspection of Yikodeen’s facility at the opening ceremony in Isolo, Lagos, the SSA said 50 per cent of the beneficiaries would have the opportunity to be employed by the firm, while others will have access to a non-collateral loan.
According to her, “After the training, out of the 100 beneficiaries, we will employ 50 people directly to work in this factory, while the rest of the 50 people would have access to non-collateral loans through the Senior Special Assistant to the President on job creation. The free training is for one month-from Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.”
She reaffirmed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to youth development and skill acquisition in improving economic growth.
Arogundade said: “Currently, the number of skilled workers of youths in Nigeria is 15 percent; we want to move that up to 50 percent from the low-skilled and the semi-skilled. We’re trying to push it up to create more economic activity in the country and increase the highly skilled population to 15 percent. So that’s one of the reasons why we put this programme together.
“We’re training in all 36 states, including the FCT. Our methodology in our offices is that we do a labour audit across the state and find out what is profitable in that region. Then we train people on that scale as we’ve noticed that in this community leather is a big thing. Every month, we’re going to launch different programmes to meet our targets.”
On the partnership, the Managing Director of Yikodeen Factory, Atunde Shamsideen, stated that the workshop would contribute to the societal goals of its firm, emphasising the need for youth empowerment in nation-building.
He said: “Over the years, we’ve been trying to impact the community because we figured out that it would be very great to have a partnership with the government to see how we can make that impact go beyond our immediate community.
“The training is a month-long training where the beneficiaries will get to understand the basics of footwear making on both industrial sides, how to use the machinery, and how to also produce shoes. So after that, we’re also taking them on finance and marketing courses because, as an entrepreneur, you need to understand numbers and sales. So it’s a mix of different things, not just footwear making.”
Also, the National Chairman, Cobblers and Leathers Artisans Association of Nigeria, Mosaku Ayodele, urged the trainees to utilise the opportunity to discover their talents by focusing on developing themselves after the workshop, adding that self-reliance is the key to success in life.
