Tinubu targets five million students in empowerment scheme

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday commenced the second edition of his vocational and entrepreneurial training to empower five million Nigerian students annually.

The target, according to the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Education, Abiola Arogundade, is to share five million laptops with beneficiaries every year.

The presidential aide disclosed this while donating 50 laptops to students of Government Secondary School in the  Federal Capital Territory.

The project was a joint effort with the private sector, which is aimed at developing technical education and vocational skills among public school students.

Addressing students of the school on Thursday, Arogundade noted that the initiative, which started last July, was meant to empower the students to develop their technical and vocational skills in line with the president’s Renewed Hope mandate.

She said, “I am here with my team to donate tablets to 50 Junior Secondary School students of this institution as part of our mandate by the President to promote skills training among the upcoming generation of Nigerians.

“The President, Bola Tinubu, had at the beginning of this administration, mandated relevant Federal Government agencies, including my office, to train not less than five million Nigerians annually in diverse skills, not only to make them employable but also to enable them to be self-employed after graduation. It is one of the pillars of the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Today’s donation, therefore, is to empower the students to develop their technical and vocational skills in line with that Presidential mandate. It is the second in a series we began last year July to stimulate innovation in technical, vocational and entrepreneurship education among the youths.  We must do this to remain competitive in the fast-changing global technology-based economy.”

Speaking further, the presidential aide explained that the public school students were carefully selected to encourage high performance.

Earlier in her presentation, the representative of Afrione Limited, Judith Okafor, said she was pleased that the FG considered them worthy to be a partner in the production of the laptops for beneficiaries.

She said, “I stand before you with great pride and excitement to announce a groundbreaking partnership between Afrione Limited and the Federal Government of Nigeria, specifically through the Office of the SSA on Technical Vocational & Entrepreneurship Education.

“As part of this partnership, Afrione Limited will be empowering some talented technical students with our state-of-the-art tablets, which function as mini laptops, providing these young minds with the tools they need to thrive in the digital age.”