All is now set for the commencement of a Skills and vocational training program for Nigerian youths by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) in conjunction with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The training is coordinated by the Chamber’s training arm known as Business Entrepreneurship Skills and Technology (BEST) Centre and is tagged #BEST1000. The training which is billed to commence on Monday, 3rd December, 2018 is featuring training in fields like Information Communication Technology (ICT), web design, graphics design, web management, IT support, systems administration, photography among others.

Speaking on the training, the President of the Chamber, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, CON., SAN noted that the aim of the vocational training is to imbibe in the next generation of leaders those skill sets that will make for sustainable development and employability.

“I have carefully reflected on the plight of the next generation of our country and we are keen on constructively engaging them into productive ventures in order to take to turn them into positive economic assets and make them employable or employers. For us to have a great future and a nation that will step into global developmental trends, the issue of skill development and employability is very important and of utmost concern to me as a person and the chamber as a critical player in the Organised Private Sector (OPS). These are skills that will cost reasonable amount of time and money to acquire but we have succeeded in bringing it to the youths at an almost zero encumbrance to them and their parents. That is why, to us at ACCI, partnership and collaboration with credible bodies like GIZ is paramount. We deeply appreciate the GIZ for agreeing to go into this venture with us. We will forever be grateful to them. I also want to use this opportunity to enjoin the participants to take this training seriously and learn skills that will usher them on the pedestal of self-development which will in turn generate employment for others and add to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation”, Prince Kayode emphasised.

In his contribution, the Founder and Provost of BEST Centre, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba said Nigeria is bedevilled with a myriad of problems, which despite her oil wealth, inhibits her development. He said the challenge of unemployment has stubbornly remained as one of the developmental problems that face every developing economy in this twenty-first century, and Nigeria is not an exception.

“But at ACCI through BEST, we have resolved to take the bull by the horn and confront the menace. We are doing this selflessly in order to impact positively on the nation and add impetus to its overall development. The courses selected here are carefully done to imbibe in our youths the critical 21st Century skills that are instrumental in generating employment opportunities as well as promoting social safety nets. Since its establishment, BEST has been confronting the nagging issue of employment creation through its various programmes such as employment counselling and linkage services, vocational skills acquisition training, entrepreneurial training and enterprise creation, training for rural employment promotion, training for labour-based transient works, collaboration with other relevant agencies and organizations, among others”, Adesugba pointed out.

The training is to be run in series and in the end, it is expected that each trainee will become a mentor to other young people in order to scale up the effect of the project.