Ibrahim Sulaiman
No fewer than 180 adolescent girls have graduated from a six-month vocational skills acquisition programme designed to promote self-reliance and economic empowerment in Zaria, Kaduna State.
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The programme was implemented through a partnership between the Centre for Girls’ Education (CGE) and the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.
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Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Deputy Director of the Centre for Girls’ Education, Hajiya Maryam Al-Bashir, said the programme recorded remarkable success, noting significant transformation in the participants after six months of intensive training.
According to her, the girls demonstrated improved discipline, skills and values compared to their status at the beginning of the programme. She added that the training equipped them to make better life choices and become responsible and productive members of society.
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Hajiya Al-Bashir explained that CGE focuses on supporting girls from less-privileged backgrounds by providing them with practical skills that would enable them to attain financial independence and contribute meaningfully to their families and communities. She encouraged the graduates to give back to society by establishing small-scale businesses, pursuing further education and mentoring other girls within their communities.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director of NAERLS, Professor Jamilu Abdullahi, said the training, which commenced in June, was largely practical and spanned six months. He disclosed that while CGE provided funding, equipment and training materials, NAERLS contributed by supplying expert resource persons and facilities, including classrooms, farms, poultry pens and fish ponds for hands-on learning.
Professor Abdullahi described the programme as highly successful and called on other organizations and non-governmental bodies to emulate the CGE-NAERLS partnership, noting that such collaborations could play a vital role in reducing poverty and unemployment among young girls.
In his remarks, the Manager of the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Centre, Engr. Abubakar, said the programme trained 180 girls across various vocational fields. He explained that 60 participants were trained in horticultural crop production, another 60 in food processing and preservation, while 30 each received training in poultry production and fisheries.
Engr. Abubakar noted that the programme was designed to be hands-on, allowing participants to personally engage in all practical activities under supervision, thereby building their confidence to start independent ventures after graduation. He urged parents and guardians to support the graduates by encouraging them to start small and gradually grow their businesses into sustainable sources of income.
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Some of the beneficiaries described the programme as life-changing, saying it exposed them to modern agricultural and processing techniques which they intend to apply to improve their livelihoods and support their families.