Ogun State Government has launched a Skills Fund scheme that will provide vocational training and empowerment opportunities for indigenes yearly, to further tackle unemployment and poverty among the people.

Speaking at the official launch of the scheme in Abeokuta, Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu said the initiative would enable at least 10,000 citizens comprising of out-of-school children, unemployed youths, and adults to acquire various skills that would make them self-reliant.

Arigbabu stated that the scheme would also improve the literacy level of artisans, as well as regulate, standardise, and re-engineer the concerned sectors,

noting that the government had put in place an all-encompassing education system that would allow for the development of formal, informal, and non-formal sectors.

“The executive order for the skills fund signed by the Governor has proven that it is now backed by law, the initiative will outlive this administration. This scheme if properly monitored will provide job opportunities for the people and alleviate poverty”, he explained.

In her welcome address, the Acting Project Coordinator, Ogun State Economic Transformation Projects (OGSTEP), Mrs. Mosun Owo-Odunsi said the programme would help people to be productive and skillful in their relevant fields, become employers of labour, and adequately trained to be employable in any organisation.

In his presentation, a World Bank Skills Development Specialist, Mr. Adesegun Fatoki submitted that the scheme’s mandate was to provide funds for demand-driven training, modernise the traditional apprenticeship system and uplift 40,000 indigenes yearly.