By Abiodun Abegunde
No fewer than 25 indigent youths in Lagos are currently undergoing a two-day leadership and life skills training organised by the Women Right and Health Project (WRAHP), a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports That the WRAHP is the manager of the Ireti Resource Centre, which is committed to providing integrated legal and psychosocial support in a safe space for women and survivors of domestic violence.
Mrs Bose Ironsi, the Executive Director of the organisation in her opening remarks at the event, said that the training was for indigent youths who were trying to rewrite their story career wise.
Ironsi noted that it was generally believed that the youths were the leaders of tomorrow, adding that there was no reason why the youths can’t be leaders of today.
She also noted that it was getting late for the youths to come on board to lead and if they were not allowed to lead, there was the need to build their skills so they could lead effectively when the time comes.
“The leadership gap that we have as a country is because people are not efficient and don’t understand what it is to lead well.
“Over the years we have remained in the market space where we are trying to find who we can employ and in this process, we have discovered several gaps, because youths are not equipped,” she said.
Ironsi revealed that the participants would be trained on marketing skills and how to build life skills among others.
She explained that the training would add more value to what they already had and would expose them to opportunities that would be beneficial to them.
She added that there would also be monitoring after the training as they would not be trained and left alone.
She also disclosed that the training was in partnership with AB Microfinance Bank and expressed optimism that other banks would also call for partnership.
In his remarks, Mr Raymond Ibileke, Head, Marketing and Brand Communications, AB Microfinance Bank said that the decision to train young persons was borne out the belief that the youths were the bedrock of the society.
According to him, the youths are the life blood of any society, and starting them right at the beginning is very key because if they are left unchecked the next generation will become semi literates.
He added that equipping them with sound training and skill acquisition that they could use in the future was key as it reduces the number of people on the street.
He noted that WRAHP over the years had been training women and girls in different capacities to live sustainable lives and be independent, hence the partnership.
“Seeing the work they have done over the years makes the bank to partner with WRAHP and this will be a continuous training.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the participants are expected to be trained on various marketing, leadership and life skills for the two days.
(NAN)
