Presidency Gives Grants To 200 Youth Entrepreneurs

The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational, and Entrepreneurship Education has awarded N100 million in grants to 200 youths for technical, vocational and entrepreneurial efforts nationwide.

While 120 freshers won N500,000 each from the best business plans written, 80 who are already in business but need a financial boost received the same amount individually from the Unlock Training Programme.

Unlock Training Programme is the outcome of a six-week campaign initiated by the office of the senior special assistant to the president during which Nigerian youths were asked to record and submit a one-minute video on their current technical, vocational and entrepreneurship (TVET) skills, what their plans are for the future on such skills and how they want government to assist them achieve the plans.

Speaking at the graduation and grant presentation ceremony in Abuja yesterday,

the senior special assistant, vocational and entrepreneurship education, Abiola Arogundade, said the purpose of the programme was to boost participants’ potential for economic development.

Arogundade at the end of that campaign, her office trained about 10,000 participants in a 10-day intensive training session on how to write and execute business plans including components such as executive summary, business overview and marketing strategies, pricing, money management and risks, among others.

“After the course, participants were asked to write and submit business plans. Today, we are giving out N500,000 in grants each to 120 winners with the best business plans. We are also giving out honourary awards to 80 persons seen to be doing very well in their technical, vocational and entrepreneurship skills but need support to upscale their businesses.

“We also promised to give certificates of completion to all participants who completed the training and to assist participants, especially new start-ups, to register their companies. Today, we are here to fulfil those promises. Staff of the Corporate Affairs Commission and those of  Providus Bank are here to issue incorporation certificates and credit the winners with their N500,000 grants so that none of you will leave here today without your prizes.

“As you must have seen on your way in, there are four Solar Kiosks to be given away to winners to support the business development of their TVET skills.They include one designed for hair dressing, one designed for catering and food vending and the other two for general purposes. Aside the mentioned professional uses, the kiosks are also equipped with sockets for phone charging and spaces for POS and other businesses.

“They are among the job creation projects we have designed as part of our contribution to the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President, Bola Tinubu administration. I am here to assure you that the president is thinking about you, not just because of this programme but because of the numerous initiatives he is creating across the country to promote TVET,” she said.

Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, said technical education is one of the thematic areas that the Federal Ministry of Education is working on to build skills in students and empower them for self-reliance after graduation, as white-collar jobs are diminishing.

“There is hope and the hope is very renewed. Technical education is one of thematic areas that the Federal Ministry of Education is working on. Added to that is out of school children. Over 30 million out of school children is unacceptable at this moment and we are making serious efforts to see how we can reduce the menace or completely eliminate it and in doing that we need collaboration.

“There is better outcome in synergy, if we do it together we have a data that is uniform that can be used to access the outcome of interventions done by the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We are doing our best to enhance skills and upscale skills,” he said.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, urged beneficiaries to make judicious use of the funds to create more wealth for themselves and opportunities for others and not take them as government largesse to be spent on frivolities.