NiDCOM / SMEDAN PARTNERSHIP YIELDING RESULTS AS RETURNEES GET FREE TRAINING AND EQUIPMENTS TO START THIER OWN BUSINESSES.
Oru Leonard
The Smedan/Nidcom Partnership, borne out of Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa’s initiative for Returnees of the South African Xenophobic attack Victims in 2019 and Other Returnees from Lebanon and Libya, has commenced a 4 day programme to empower some of the returnees and others with hardware equipments to kick-off artisanship.
The empowerment programme is ongoing concurrently in eleven states of the Federation, namely: Lagos , Ekiti, Adamawa, Katsina, Ebonyi, Delta, Rivers, kwara, Niger, Zamfara and Bauchi state.
NiDCOM, under the leadership of Chairman/CEO, Abike Dabiri Erewa, decided to partner with an organisation like SMEDAN to help build the capacity of the Returnees by empowering them on some certain Vocational and Entrepreneurship skills, considering the fact that most of them came back home empty-handed after losing their businesses and properties to the attack.
The NiDCOM Chairman, in her Keynote speech delivered by Mr Akanbi Abiodun, advised the participants not to despise the period of little beginnings, stating that the modern-day equipment SMEDAN will hand-out to them at the end of the training must be treated as a poverty defying tool.
Speaking, Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda, DG of SMEDAN and Chairman of SMEDAN board/former Deputy Governor of Lagos, Otunba Femi Pedro thanked Hon. Abike Dabiri for her enormous contributions towards the actualization of the training/ skills acquisition programme.
Both public officials agreed that NiDCOM under the leadership of Hon. Abike Erewa is doing a great deal in de-populating Nigeria’s unemployment market and simultaneously bringing into Nigeria, Diaspora market in areas of critical sector investments, skills/knowledge transfer, Diaspora settlement assistance and most recently, the Diaspora fund initiative.
Abisola Ogunlenu, a trainee/participant, who was appointed training Rep. for one of the subset classes, poured praises on the NiDCOM Chairman’s effort in taking all of them away from the streets into a self-employed who is about to conquer the streets of business.
Other beneficiaries poured encomiums on Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa for finding them worthy and for always looking out for them since they returned to Nigeria.
Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa’s contribution was also highlighted in glowing terms and that NiDCOM’s logo will continue to be an emblem for positive Human development collaborations in Nigeria and globally.
There was excitement all around, as the participants were been given an opportunity of a life time towards financial independence.
