In a bid to combat poverty and unemployment through entrepreneurship training and advocacy, the , in collaboration with Start-up Kano, has organised a two-day workshop for youths.
The event, held in Kano, targeted mostly adolescent girls from underprivileged communities to commemorate International Youth Day, as marked by the United Nations.
In an interview shortly after day one of the event, the Girl H program officer in Kano, Abdullahi Muhammad Ahmad revealed to Daily Episode that the workshop aims to address financial freedom and equip the youth with the rudiments of brand packaging, business relationships, networking, and marketing stratagies.
According to him, “the training is a joint effort between the and Kano Start-up. We collaborate to organise the two-day training for some selected participants from our previous cohort so that we can guide them on the right steps and tips for succeeding in entrepreneurship.
Thus, we chose today particularly to commemorate International Youth Day, knowing that our participants are all youth, within the age bracket of 16 to 24. Abdullahi continue
Given Nigeria’s ongoing economic instability, we are committed to training youth in entrepreneurship and business. We believe that empowering young people in this way will significantly support the government, the country, and its citizens in the fight against poverty and unemployment.” Abdullahi added.
However, the event also featured lectures from seasoned professionals from Start-Up Kano, including Maryam Ibrahim, among the professionals who led networking and business growth training, emphasising the need for Nigerians to prioritise skill acquisition in the pursuit of economic stability and growth.
Marym Ibrahim, who cautions Nigerians on a rapid growth of population, a decline in white collar jobs, and industrial productivity.
According to her, “going to university and graduating with good grades are no longer meal tickets, not only in Nigeria but at a global phenomenal; therefore, entrepreneurship is one key aspect or area where the future may be bright for the indepency.
In entrepreneurship, the skilled person who invests to provide a service is contributing to the growth of the Nigerian economy and is also creating jobs despite earning a personal income; therefore, you can clearly see the impact, which many people should know.
I will use this medium to call on our youth to learn a skill even while in university.” She added.
Participant View
Aisha Muhammad, a participant in the two-day workshop and a beneficiary of the Isa Wali Empowerment Development Initiative entrepreneship training, discloses that “I was trained on catering months ago, and today we are gathered to be mentored on ways to promote our learnt skills.
Honestly, I am overwhelmed, and both sessions were eye-openers for me. Aisha disclose.
Like Aisha, Khadija Sulaiman testifies to the quality of the organised workshop and its impact on their career and business growth.
Khadija shared that, after being trained by the organisation on make-up, she now earns handsomely and is gradually gaining recognition within and outside her community.
I received calls on a daily , and I’ve started training my younger ones too.
After the Khadija impact story, Rukayya D. Umar solicited more support for the adolescent girls.
According to Rukayya, the skills we learn have significantly changed our story and proven the impact of supporting the girl child.
The level at which I now understand what and how to make profits and how to promote and package my business is awesome.
Therefore, I want every girl to be like or better than me, so I advise every youth to learn a skill, while every community or organisation should emulate the practice of supporting the girl child by giving her the opportunity to become skilled. Rukayya added.
