GIZ, Etiwa TECH empower 30 trainees with tools

The German Development Commission (GIZ) in partnership with Etiwa TECH, a nonprofit vocational training centre, on Thursday, graduated 30 trainees and empowered them with tools.

18 trainees graduated from the Masonry Department, while 12 graduated from the Air Conditioning Department.

The skills training and empowerment was done by the Skills Development for Youth Employment (SKYE) programme  and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)

The project was implemented by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) in partnership with Etiwa TECH.

Mrs Jody Adewale, Managing Director, Etiwa TECH, in her remarks, said that the
trainees did not just come from Lagos, but were drawn from different parts of the country..

Adewale said that the 30 graduating students were the last batch of trainees in the programme, marking the end of the partnership with the SKYE.

” This marks the end of this project. And we are hoping that next year, the project will continue.”

According to her, the objectives of the SKYE program is to increase the prospects of gainful employment for young Nigerians between 15 and 35 through skills acquisition,

“And so, with this project, SkYE has partnered with different vocational institutions to provide this training.

“And the whole purpose of this training is to ensure that there is gainful employment; that you learn a skill to be able to go out there and to make a living for yourself.

“That is why as part of the project, apart from just training, there have been soft skills, which are the skills you need to go into the workplace and succeed,” Adewale said.

She noted that for the period of the partnership, they had trained 205 trainees, half of whom were returnees from abroad.

The managing director added that the training also involved building the capacity of the trainees on entrepreneurship.

In his remarks, Mr Tosin Ilawole, Technical Advisor for the GIZ SKYE Programme, expressed delight at the graduation of the trainees.

He said that GIZ embarked on the training programme because of its mandate to develop skills for employment.

He noted that if youths were trained with employability skills, it would help to tackle illegal migration.

The climax of the graduation was the presentation of certificates and tools to the graduands.

One of them, Mr Lucky Okhumale, from Edo State, expressed gratitude to Etiwa TECH and GIZ for the opportunity granted him.

He promised to use what he learnt to better his lot and to serve humanity. (NAN)