To combat unemployment and promote self-reliance, a non-governmental organisation, EI’s Empowerment Foundation, in partnership with ASB Data and other collaborators, has empowered 1,000 Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, Zaria students with vocational and digital skills.
During the flag-off of the initiative yesterday at the school premises, the foundation’s coordinator, Malam Musa Aliyu, explained that the programme targets both male and female students, offering them practical business training and startup resources to help ease their transition from academic life into entrepreneurship.
“The goal of this innovation programme is to complement the government’s Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) initiative. With over 300 tertiary institutions producing approximately 600,000 graduates annually and only about 6,000 securing government jobs, the time has come to give students practical and digital skills they can use immediately after graduation.”
Aliyu disclosed that the programme would equip participants with skills in digital technology, modern baking, shower gel production, and other small-scale enterprises.
He added that many of the trained students would receive starter packs and be monitored for three months to track their progress and ensure the initiative’s overall success.
He said, “Besides the skill acquisition, we are also reaching out to female students by providing free sanitary pads to promote menstrual hygiene and reduce the burden many of them silently carry”.
One of the programme’s key partners, Alhaji Abubakar Barde, CEO of ASB Data, urged students to explore digital entrepreneurship using the tools available to them.
“In this digital age, students can successfully run businesses using their smartphones and a capital as little as N10,000. Opportunities like data reselling, online services, and digital communication are accessible and profitable.”
The polytechnic’s rector, Dr Mohammed Kabir, represented by the director of the School of Management Studies, Malam Umar Hassan, lauded the foundation and its partners for bringing practical value to students’ lives.
“This intervention addresses the real challenges of poverty, unemployment, and inequality, not just in Nigeria, but across many African countries. By making our students entrepreneurs, we are creating a path towards sustainable peace and development”.
The empowerment programme is expected to serve as a model for other institutions and non-profit bodies aiming to foster youth development, gender health awareness, and economic inclusion.
