By Stephen Adeleye.
No fewer than 80 women in rural communities have been empowered on practical functional skills by an NGO, Ladi Memorial Foundation (LMF) in Emagaba, Ogugu, Olamaboro Local Government Areas of Kogi State.
Mrs Rosemary Osikoya, the Executive Director of LMF, told journalists on Friday, that the three-day workshop was organised as part of activities to mark the International Women’s Day 2020, with the theme: ”Skills For Women Empowerment”.
”Today, we are celebrating Women’s day with a different dimension because we understand the rรดles of a woman in the society; as a wife, mother, community builder, among others
”When a woman is empowered to have such basic practical skills, she is able to affect more than herself and also impact her girl child and the society at large.
”We are excited for the number of women that turnout for the training; we were expecting a maximum of 50 women, but it turned out to be over 80 participants,” Osikoya said.
According to her, during the three-day workshop the women across various age group were sensitised on personal wealth creation, personal hygiene, home management, and trained on various practical functional skills.
Osikoya, a former Kogi Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, added that the skills for women empowerment programmes would be in six sessions which when completed would enable participants to have covered the Basic Modula Trade Course Certificate expectations of NABTEB.
She noted that the foundation’s institute, Chateko Vocational Institute at Ileke Emonoja, currently has 16 students’ trainees on Garment making, who were on full scholarship with accommodation and feeding.
”I am happy that it is a good awareness campaign, good sensitisation and lifelong learning activities, good community participation and empowerment”, she said.
She appealed to various individuals, groups, communities and corporate organisations to support and partner with the NGO in terms of sponsorship, donations and human capital development.
An instructor, Mrs Christiana Tolufashe, told NAN that the women were trained on how to bake and decorate cake of various types, how to make puffs, buns, sobo drinks, plantain chips, soap making, among others.
Tolufashe advised the participants to utilise the opportunity and practice what they had learnt, saying they could start something with a little capital of N2000 that could make them to be self reliantย A 65-year-old woman participant, Mrs Ladi Daniel, commended the NGO for the gesture, saying she participated in the training because learning has no age limit, saying ”no knowledge is lost”.
She urged the younger ones to use every opportunity they have to learn a skill in order to be self reliant and be employer of labour.
On his part, Mr James Onoja, the Emagaba Community Leader, appreciated the foundation for coming to the rural communities to empower their women in order to have a source of income and be self dependent.
