3 years ago
143 
By Victor Oso
The Federal Government has concluded training for selected youths and women from various communities in Jigawa and Kano states, under its Skill Acquisition Training and Empowerment Programme.
The training programme was undertaken by the National Agency for the Great Green Wall, NAGGW, a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Environment.
NAGGW is the federal agency in the vanguard of transforming Nigerian drylands, especially the 11 frontline states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Katsina, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara, that are facing the challenges of climate change, land degradation and desertification.
The programme is principally intended to deliberately create alternative streams of sustainable livelihoods for the dwellers of the frontline states to reduce pressure on the land and the ecosystem in general.
The training, held at the Agency’s facilities at Afforestation Programme Coordinating Unit, APCU, complex on Jambulo Road, Kano Metropolis, was flagged-off by the Minister of Environment, Dr. Muhammed Abubakar, and coordinated by the Director-General of the Agency, Dr. Bukar Hassan.
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In his speech, Dr. Abubakar noted that the training was first of its kind in Northern Nigeria, which he noted underscores the need an experienced trainer to kick-start the training programme, stressing that the FG has lined up over 2,000 trainees to be trained in batches from that moment.
Dr. Abubakar added that the training became imperative for the reason of removing idle youths from the streets to stem the tide of insecurity occasioned by banditry, kidnapping, armed insurgency, robbery and other vices that he noted have been impeding security in the region.
He added: “This training is one in a series of our training programmes aimed at re-writing the ugly narratives of Nigeria’s northern region that has been plagued for a long time now by heinous crimes which are of course avoidable.
“The FG has decided to ensure the sustainability of this training to better the lots of our people. So, President Muhammadu Buhari administration is keeping to its promise of developing and growing the people for their economic betterment.”
The participants were trained in three enterprises, which are commercial tailoring practice, commercial knitting and commercial soap and perfume making technology.
The trainings were conducted in Hausa, Fulfude, Kanuri and English languages to accelerate knowledge impartation by the resource persons and knowledge assimilation by the trainees.
Throughout the training programme, theoretical impartation were followed by practical demonstrations.
This was, thereafter, followed by actual hands-on demonstrations by the trainees in groups and individually.
Mr. Mhusaya Chindaba, the Director of the Department of Rural and Extension Services in NAGGW, charged the graduands and equally reiterated the earlier charge of the Director-General of the Agency, Dr. Hassan, to count themselves very lucky.
He said they were chosen out of the multitude. He also urged them to take proper care of the starter packs given to them. And never to sell them.
The graduands were issued their respective certificates of Professional Competence by Songhai Timbuktu Limited, an accredited training institution by the National Council for Management Development, NCMD.
