“Human skill development in any nation is key for economic growth.”
Lailah Gifty Akita
The whloistic transformation of Arewans is at the nerve-centre of ADSI’s remarkable interventions. The laser-sharp focus on skill acquisition is premised on the fact that skills are the surest currency for transaction in the labour market. A skilled person is able to access job opportunities that a skilled person cannot. A skilled person is also able to create job opportunities for others. We live in a world in which the ability to offer skilled services are more in demand than they were some years ago.
We have somehow, all woken up to the fact that the government cannot provide all the jobs. Against that backdrop, the private sector roars to the cynosure of economic activities with a litany of services for which the average skill of an individual is a lot more lucrative than some degree certificates. The fashion designer, in our typical Nigeria these days, if properly trained on how to professionally run a business, has more prospects of the good life than a university student from the raw arts without some tangible marketable skills.
The perception aforementioned, particularly prompted the Kaduna Chapter of ADSI, under the noteworthy leadership of Engr. Abdullahi Hussaini and others, to reach out to 77 young men and women, and a few primary school pupils, offering them opportunities of a lifetime. In a training program spanning weeks, enriched with a series of skills available for trainees to pick from, what was once a dream for most beneficiaries, turned into a reality.
The training, which held at No. 4 Kwato Road, HDFN Premises, Unguwar Rimi, Kaduna, in August, 2019, benefitted 15 less privileged northerners on catering skills, 9 on tailoring skills plus another 10 pupils of HDFN primary school, who also trained alongside the 9 trainees on tailoring skills. These pupils have since that time, kept on honing their tailoring skills at the school’s tailoring workshop. Another set of 10 beneficiaries learnt skills in electrical works. Some 23 also took training on solar installation and maintenance. On ICT, 10 pupils from HDFN were trained. They have since continued to sharpen their ICT skills at the school’s computer centre.
In a video survey, months following the training sessions, at least, 5 beneficiaries, picked from each skill continuum, have made huge progress. Each of them is currently well established, self-reliant, committed to training others, as a way of giving back to society, and above all, making good profit to support themselves.
Currently, two years down the line, the number of beneficiaries making progress is heart-warming. How did this come about? Spirited individuals, sacrificing at the least, N2000 per month, for the good of their region, have turned the tide of joblessness. It is all there is to it. A profound compassion for the person next door, that epiphany that true wealth is collective, and that overwhelming resolve to better the lot of everyone, crystallize into the substratum, upon which Arewa Development Support Initiative is built.
The landmark attainments of ADSI so far, are the early signs of the possibilities that we can create for ourselves. Kaduna’s centrifugal position in the trajectory of Arewa’s growth is incontestable. Owing to the visible impact of the road taken in skill acquisition, we are once more reminded that the progress of a nation is not a rocket science. We all can make a difference if we are ready to sacrifice a little bit. One of our late northern matriarchs once said: “it is the children of the other people you help that are truly your greatest rewards and achievements.” How true!
Join us in making a difference in northern Nigeria. The future yet stretches ahead of us with opportunities we can take, dreams we can fulfil, heights we can attain, memories we can create, and hopes we can nurse, only if we think of our progress as a collective effort. Join ADSI today.
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