DEPOWA trains 300 women and youths in Ode-Ekiti

The Defence and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA) has commenced the training of 300 women and youths in various skills acquisition in Ode-Ekiti, Ekiti State, to curb joblessness and criminal activities in the state.

The skills acquisition programme, with the theme, ‘Be The Change’, is expected to expose the beneficiaries to trainings in make-up, barbing, tie-and-dye, bag making, grinding machine operation, beads stringing and tile laying.

Declaring the training open in Ode Ekiti, the headquarters of Gbonyin local government, the wife of the Chief of Defence Staff, Dr Omobolanle Olonisakin, said DEPOWA, as a nongovernmental organisation, was determined to partner with the government in tackling unemployment.

“This training is being organized to cushion the effects of the current economic situation in our society. It is pertinent to stress that skills acquisition is the order of the day as white collar jobs are relatively very scarce,” Dr Olonishakin said.

She urged the participants to take the training serious, saying the knowledge they would gain there would go a long way in helping them and their families.

The participants, she added, would be presented with tools and grants needed to start businesses of their own after the training.

Some of the participants expressed happiness over the opportunity given to them and assured the organisers that they would make use of the knowledge gained at the programme to positively impact on the society.