Ondo State Government has called for partnership with well-to-do individuals by establishing skills acquisition centres in every nook and cranny of the state.
The Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Saka Ogunleye, made the call in Akure on Tuesday where primary school pupils and secondary school students were being trained on fashion designing.
Ogunleye expressed government’s readiness to partner with any organisation that embarks on such venture.
“We are happy to assist organisations helping to train our young ones to get engaged outside government by being self-reliant.
“Everything is being done from sports to vocational skills to make the young ones useful to themselves and the society.
“That informed our decision for setting up soccer academy to catch young ones in early stage and nurture them to stardom as being practiced in advanced countries.
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“The government of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has also set up various skills acquisition centres across the state.
“Yet, we welcome private people, particularly the rich ones to join hands with us by borrowing a leaf from this centre,” he said.
Miss Kolawole Temilola, who originated the programme, said she attended a three-week training programme at Ode Omu (Osun State), where selected youths were trained on various forms of skills acquisition.
“It was at this training programme that we were trained on fashion designing.
“We were also trained on ways of making money through fashion designing.
I decided to start the training with kids of between ages of 9-12 years, ‘’ Temilola said.
A Trainer and Chief Executive Officer of Yintaz Fashion, Grace Akpalakor, said the training was meant to arouse the entrepreneurship spirit of the trainees.
Akpalakor commended the state government for supporting the idea, saying, “it would serve as an encouragement for others’’.
One of the participants, a young girl, Sousa Modupe said the programme had opened her eyes to the possibility of becoming self-employed and even an employer of labour in future.
The young girl later took the commissioner’s measurement for sowing short and long sleeve native dresses.
The three-week training programme is being sponsored by the state Ministry of Youth and Sports. (NAN)
