The Federal Government has commenced the distribution of starter packs to 18,510 Nigerians who completed the first batch of the Renewed Hope Vocational and Skills Training Programme.
The initiative, implemented by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), is designed to equip beneficiaries with the tools and skills needed to establish businesses, generate income and become self-reliant.
The beneficiaries were selected from all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. They underwent two weeks of intensive vocational training at more than 230 accredited training centres across the country.
Speaking at the programme’s closing ceremony in Abuja on Wednesday, the National Programme Manager of N-POWER, Dr Nsikak Okon, said the Federal Government had deployed GPS technology and a dedicated monitoring system to track beneficiaries and ensure that the starter packs were properly utilised.
Okon said beneficiaries were enrolled on a dedicated portal that allows the agency to monitor their locations and access information about the equipment assigned to them. He added that a call centre had also been established to provide assistance and address any challenges encountered by participants.
The beneficiaries received training in various trades, including automobile technology, agriculture, baking and confectionery, carpentry and furniture making, cooking and catering, electrical installation, hospitality, jewellery and bead making, masonry, plumbing, welding and fabrication.
Others were trained in fashion design and sewing, grinding machine operation, vulcanising and tyre services.
Each beneficiary also received N60,000 as transport allowance for the two-week training period.
The NSIPA National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer, Badamasi Lawal, described the completion of the training as an important step towards expanding economic opportunities for vulnerable Nigerians.
According to Lawal, much of the vocational equipment distributed to the beneficiaries had remained unused in government warehouses for more than five years before being recovered, refurbished and deployed.
He said the programme was designed not only to provide technical skills but also to equip beneficiaries with knowledge of entrepreneurship, financial literacy, business planning, customer relations and enterprise management.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, said the programme was part of the Federal Government’s broader strategy to move Nigerians from temporary relief to sustainable livelihoods.
Doro said the government was shifting its poverty-reduction approach from short-term assistance to skills acquisition, productive assets and enterprise development.
He urged the beneficiaries to make productive use of the skills and equipment provided to them, stressing that the programme was intended to help them establish sustainable businesses and create employment opportunities.
The distribution of the starter packs is expected to enable the newly trained artisans to immediately begin using their skills to generate income, support their families and contribute to economic development.
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