The Federal Government has awarded a N500,000 grant to 120 participants in the “Unlock Training Programme” coordinated by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational, and Entrepreneurship Education, Madam Abiola Arogundade.
This was announced at at the grant award ceremony which had in attendance, several ministers and top presidential aides on Saturday in Abuja, according to Vanguard.
Arogundade stated that eligible participants will also receive Solar Kiosks and a Certificate of Completion.
She added the goal is to increase employment and ensure the economy’s optimal growth.
She noted that the solar kiosks are intended for hairdressing, catering, and food vending, as well as for general use and that in addition to the aforementioned professional uses, the kiosks are outfitted with phone charging sockets and spaces for Points of Sale (POS) terminals and other
Arogundade said “The Unlock Training Programme was the outcome of a six-week Campaign initiated by my office during which Nigerian youths were asked to record and submit a one-minute video on their current technical, vocational, and entrepreneurship skills, what their plans are for the future on such skills and how they want government to assist them achieve their plans. The purpose was to boost their potential for economic development.
“At the end of that campaign, we trained about 10,000 participants in a 10-day intensive training session on how to write and execute Business Plans.
“During the programme, both online and physical participants were trained on the components of a good Business Plan including Executive Summary, Business Overview and Marketing Strategies, Pricing, Money Management, and Risks, among others.
“After the course, participants were asked to write and submit Business Plans. Today, we are giving out N500,000 grants each to 120 winners with the best Business Plans.
“We are also giving out honourary awards to 80 persons seen to be doing very well in their Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship skills but need support to upscale their businesses.
We also promised to give Certificates of Completion to all participants who completed the training and to assist participants, especially new start-ups, to register their companies. Today, we are here to fulfill those promises.”
She added that staff from the Corporate Affairs Commission were on hand to issue incorporation certificates to participants, while staff from a commercial bank were also there to credit recipients’ accounts.
“I am here to assure you that the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is thinking about you, not just because of this programme but because of the numerous initiatives he is creating across the country to promote technical, vocational and entrepreneurship skills.
“An example of this is the inclusion of technical, vocational and entrepreneurship skills in the Students Loans, inauguration of Skills Council in the Presidency, Human Capital Development Council, in collaboration with the Governors under the National Economic Council, SUPA (Skill-Up Artisans), ITF and numerous others.
“We will like to also say that this is one of our many programmes in supporting skills and enterprise and we intend to continue to do so in our office. So if you are not a winner today, please continue to apply to participate in our future programmes”, she added,” she explained.
