By John Ikani
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) is collaborating with a gender advocacy group, StandUp for Women Society (SWS), and the NYSC Legal Aid Community Development Service (CDS) to train out-of-school teenage mothers in legal education and vocational skills in Bayelsa State.
Facilitators say the NCDMB-funded initiative will see more than 100 teenage mothers undergo the skills acquisition training, beginning with 20 teenagers in the first phase of the programme.
Mr. Timbiri Augustine, Deputy Manager, Capacity Building, NCDMB, said the teenagers, selected from rural communities within Yenagoa Local Government Area, would undergo training in fashion design, catering, facial make-up, and hairdressing for three months at the Bayelsa State Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Yenagoa (BSITH).
Mr. Augustine disclosed this while speaking during the inauguration on Wednesday at the Institute of Tourism and Hospitality, Yenagoa.
He said the board attached so much importance to training and human capital development, hence the support for the training.
While commending stakeholders for initiating the training, Mr. Augustine noted that it was the first time “this category of persons will be captured by the board for skills acquisition training programme.”
According to him: “We have noted that employment is limited, but there is the entrepreneurship window that is open for all of us. There are only two ways to generate income either as a service provider or producer or both. This training will expose you to skills to become a service provider and a producer.
“We expect maximum commitments. You have a role to play. We are playing our own role, the trainers are expected to play their own role as you are also expected to play your own role and remain committed and align with our expectations. We want to thank the stakeholders involved in this training. NCDMB knows the importance of partnership, and collaboration is one of our key priorities.”
On his part, the Rector, BSITHI, Prof. Apuega Arikawie, praised the NCDMB for utilising the facilities offered by the institute for its training and for financing training programmes in the Niger Delta and the country at large.
He said: “As a way to empower teenage mothers to have a scheme for themselves to enable them take care of the child, the NCDMB thought it wise to sponsor this programme.
“The programme will make them entrepreneurs and reduce crime, poverty in the Niger Delta and vices bedevilling the area.”
In her speech, Ms Eunice Nnachi, Chairperson of SWS, Bayelsa Chapter, said the training programme aimed to achieve social integration and giving hope to teenage mothers who found themselves in the role of parenting at a tender age.
Nnachi explained that the trainees would be given stipends and starter packs to enable them to become self-reliant.
She noted that more than 100 teenage mothers had been captured and would undergo the skills acquisition training to be carried out in different phases.
According to her, arrangements have been put in place to ensure that the programme was well monitored and supervised for optimal impact on the beneficiaries.
