FIIRO Tasks Participants on Skills Acquisition

Crusoe Osagie

The Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) yesterday urged training participants to make use of their acquired skills and competencies for both self and societal development.

Director General, FIIRO, Dr Gloria Elemo, made this appeal in Lagos, during the closing ceremony of the TechnoEntrepreneurship Development Training for Ubulu-Uku Youths, Delta State.

She also urged them not to mind any challenge or barrier they would face while becoming business owners and employers of labour.

According to the DG, acquiring the skill is just one of many steps towards becoming the entrepreneur of their dream,

“Taking a step further to start a business is another big step. I can assure you that you will find tonnes of reasons why you cannot start now, though some of these reasons cannot be ignored totally especially start off fund.

“I want you to know that once there is a will, there will always be a way,” she said.

She also informed them that there existed a collaboration between the institute and the Bank of Industry(BoI), a federal government-owned development bank charged with funding projects in Nigeria.

The DG told the participants that by taking part in the training programme, their names were already registered on the institute’s database for presentation to the BoI.

She added that BoI would aid them in funding their projects, be it small, medium or large.

Elemo also called on the elders of Ubulu-Uku to set up a fund to assist the younger generation especially those that are willing to be self reliant and create employment.

She said through such funds, cluster processing centres would be established in collaboration with local and state government to fast track enterprise take off with equipment and machines.

The FIIRO DG said that they could take their raw materials to these centres, process them for a token and market their products until they generate funds for their own equipment.

She urged some of them that are desirous of starting immediately to take advantage of the contract production scheme of the Institute to enable them forge ahead.

The DG while congratulating the participants, told them that she was looking forward to reading their stories in the nearest future, in the institutes future edition of “250 Successful FIIRO Entrepreneurs: How We Made it”.

A participant, Mr. Mathew Abioye, said the training was good for the country as it would reduce the high unemployment of youths.

“The skills acquired if well practiced and implemented will serve as a form revenue for one and also reduce the high employment rate in the country, “he said.

Abioye called on government for financial intervention as it would make the skill obtained not go to waste.