Occasioned by the rising trend of unemployment in the country, a group; promotion of human aid and community development in Africa (PHACODA) has concluded plans to empower youths in the 36 states of the Federation with training on vocational and artisan related skills.
Commencing with 25 out of 44 available courses , PHACODA a non Governmental Organisation (NGO) registered in Nigeria disclosed that its empowerment initiative has been developed to accommodate a minimum of two million five hundred thousand (2,5000,000) participants to engage in strategic training to enable them to achieve their set goals.
Addressing newsmen ahead of the programme launch in Abuja on Tuesday, its director, Mr. Chidiomimi Angels disclosed further that it had developed a data system that will serve as an umbrella for all within the age bracket of 15-35yrs in all 36 states in the country.
Harping on the benefits of the initiative, Angels emphasised that the programme will not only help to restore and preserve the dignity of beneficiaries but will also contribute to alleviate poverty.
Giving a statistical analysis of Nigeria’s youth population, Chidiomimi added that the number of people within the labour force who were unemployed or underemployed increased from 13.6 million and 17.7 million respectively in the second quarter of 2017 to 15.9 million and 18 million respectively in the third quarter of 2017.
“During our 12 years of experience, we strived to build a workplace based on the values of inclusiveness, partnership, and continuous growth. Our organisation is committed to contributing to the building of a peaceful and prosperous Nigeria through the creation of a sustainable skill/trade learning lifestyle for all youths.
“The population of youths (15 – 35) in the country was estimated to be 64.1 million with females constituting 51.6 percent while that of youths (18 – 35) was 52.2 million with females constituting 52.8 per cent, 69% of the total youths are in rural areas while 31% are located in urban.
“the objective of the programme to create awareness and sensitise youths on the importance of skill acquisition which will in turn provide them job security and also make them self reliant, Mr. Angel stated.
According to him the 25 available courses are; Photography, Graphics design, Fashion Designing, Hair Styling, Nail tech, Make-up, shoe Making, Carpentry/woodworks, Culinary, Bakery and Pastry, Video production, Automobile mechanic, Sound engineering, Music production, Barbing, Computer engineering, Skin care, Phone engineering, Welding/fabrication, Electrical engineering, Paint production, Architecture design, Interior design and Costume design, Special effect. He added that the participants will undergo a period of 1year Diploma Level intensive theory training, practical training, and trade experience.
Angel also stated that at the end of the program, the trainees will be evaluated and certified by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Employment. He called on interested candidates to register on edu.phacoda.com and enrol the preferred course from the course list.