Emma Okonji
Some youths, selected from the slum areas of Lagos, will today be celebrated, after being empowered with basic Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and customer service skills.
The youths numbering 35, went through a 13-month training programme at the Ekobits Academy. They were trained in Graphics and Design, Web Design and Development, Work Ethics and Professionalism, Attitude and Behaviour, Business Plan, Photography and Video Editing, Basic ICT Skills and Excellence in Customer Service.
The training, which was facilitated by Poise Nigeria in partnership with Oxfam Novib and Butterfly Works, was designed to transform lives of youths from the slum areas of Lagos that could not further their education to higher institutions.
The youth empowerment project was designed to support government’s plan to empower Nigerian youths to realise their creative and productive energies to achieve sustainable growth, and improve their living standards.
The graduation ceremony which will take place today at Poise Training School, will have several multinational companies like Tech Points, Gr8jobsng, Printivo, Sterling Assets, Aiki, Ovie Brum Foundation, etc, in attendance to interview the graduates for potential job placements and internship opportunities at their organisations.
EkoBits is part of the network of Bits Schools that offer demand aligned training in creative technology targeted at youth from the less privileged community.
EkoBits Academy is an initiative of the Work in Progress Alliance, Oxfam Novib and Butterfly Works, a social and design innovations studio in the Netherlands, which partnered and set up Nairobits in Nairobi, Kenya in 1999 and has since been involved in springing up bits school around the world.
Since its inception in Nigeria through Poise, it has trained over 50 students from different slums in Lagos like Otodogbame, Itedo, Ajiran, Ikate, Babalola areas that cannot afford to further their education in to higher institutions and empower them through several trainings in basic technology.
Speaking on the training initiative, the Chief Executive Officer of Poise Training School/partner of the project, Mrs. Ukinebo Dare, stated that the platform was set out to empower young people with skills and values that would enable them make lasting contributions in every sphere of life.
“Nobody knows the exact population of the slum district of Lagos but it is estimated to be as high as 100,000 and unfortunately the inequalities for youths living in the slum begins from their childhood and so by denying youths equal opportunities, Nigeria will be unable to tap into the potential that exists within its young populations and mobilise that talent for the benefit of society as a whole,” Dare said.
