The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), has commenced training for women on shoe and bag making in Ondo state.
The Director General of the Directorate, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, said at the opening ceremony of the training that the idea was to boost the capacity of women in job creation and reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
Fikpo who was represented by the Ondo State Coordinator of NDE, Mr Olusegun Adelodun, said this in Akure, the state capital.
According to him “The first phase of the training was simultaneously held in the 19 Northern States and the FCT between March 27 and March 31, 2023 while the second phase is now holding in the 17 southern states of the country.
“In all, a total of 740 women have been selected nationwide at the rate of 20 women per state.
“The Women Employment Branch (WEB), a platform of the Small Scale Enterprises Department is responsible for undertaking this training that is commencing today which the objective is to design income generating activities for women in order to generate mass employment and reduce poverty amongst women.
“In line with this, I am glad to inform you that in the year 2022, the Directorate through WEB kick-started the training in income-generating activities in skills such as Decorative Paint Making, Embroidery (stone/beads on clothes), Perfumery, Organic Products, Extraction of Natural Organic oil, Spice/ Seasoning Production, Turban (Headgear) making, Event Decoration, Makeup & Gele and Rafia Works.
Fikpo said that the Directorate through its intervention programmes and schemes had created over one million direct jobs for women of all categories through skills acquisition and entrepreneurial training opportunities.
He added that the directorate has also, provided a platform for women who have benefited from its numerous skills acquisition trainings to gain international exposure and network through participation in local and international Trade Fairs.
He called on the beneficiaries of the training to listen attentively to their trainers and practice whatever they were being taught, at home.
