At least 700 youths and adults in Lagos have been taken out of the pool of unemployed individuals in the country following their graduation from the sixth skills acquisition and empowerment programme organised by Imole Eko Foundation.
The graduation ceremony held at Lagos Police College, Ikeja penultimate Thursday rounded off the 4-month of intensive training in various vocations such as hairdressing, fashion designing, cosmetology, tye and dye making, shoe/bag making, soap making, and catering among others organised for the students at no cost.
At the graduation ceremony attended by dignitaries across the state, the highly-elated graduates were presented with certificates, and work equipment such as complete sets of brand new sewing machines, ovens, standing hair dryers, Makeup Boxes, Popcorn Machine, and grinding machines as well as start-up capital to set up their business and be self-employed.
In his remarks, the founder of the Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Prince Yommy Eshinlokun Ogungbe explained that the foundation is only fulfilling its plans and goals with the empowerment program emphasizing that the mission is to help young and old learn vocations, skills, or crafts to earn a living and, ultimately, be self-reliant.
He recalled the various philanthropic programs and projects his NGO has undertaken adding that more are in the offing.
His words: “Being a philanthropist, I have been giving out free GCE, JAMB, and WAEC forms and scholarships to indigent students since 1998. I have also sponsored games and sporting events in various primary and secondary schools in Lagos State. Hence, I decided to start a foundation to help young and old people, particularly youth to learn vocational skills or crafts to earn a living.
”The Imole Eko Foundation(IEF) aims to break the vicious cycle of poverty and to restore hope for a better future. I believe that everyone has the right to access resources and opportunities, hence, we aim to help generate vocational training for el employment.’
Corroborating Ogungbe, the National Coordinator of the foundation, Comrade Adam Taofeek emphasised that the event is an annual project ” which we have promised ourselves to carry out as part of our responsibilities towards elevating indigents from poverty to economic independence through training and empowerment.”
“Let it be said that all items displayed here today are sole-sponsored by a special creator from Almighty God who has decided to support the less privileged as long as he breathes. He is no other person than Prince Yommy Ogungbe who took after his father in humanitarian services. We pray Almighty God continues to bless him in all his endeavour.”
Taofeek went on to urge the teeming beneficiaries to justify the NGO’s belief in them by flying their business and passing on the vocational knowledge to others to make them self-employed and independent like themselves.
On their part, the beneficiaries took turns to express their gratitude to the NGO and the founder as they confirmed their knowledge and proficiency in the various skills they learned.
“I feel good about the program and I’m happy to be here. The training was intensive and somehow stressful but I’m happy to learn and now I am a professional make-up artist. May God continue to bless Prince Yommy Ogungbe for this empowerment programme. My plan after this graduation is to get my shop and set myself up for business with the tools I’ve been given,” said one of the beneficiaries, Mary Olaniyan.
