200 Kwara youths to benefit from workforce development programme

Two hundred Kwara State youths will benefit from a free training programme in four areas, including Data Analysis, Virtual Assistance, Content Creation and Digital Marketing to enhance their employability and expand their employment opportunities.

The programme organised by the Ilorin Innovation Hub, a Kwara State Government initiative supported by IHS Nigeria, is the first cohort of the Hub’s Technical Workforce Development Programme (TWDP).

Speaking at the launch in Ilorin on Monday, Director of Programmes, Ilorin Innovation Hub, Zumah Yahaya, said the programme was created to move beyond skills acquisition and focus directly on job creation.

Yahaya also said that the organization has set a target of securing paid employment for at least 50 per cent of the 200 participants within six months of completing the training.

“The 12-week programme is designed to bridge the gap between digital skills acquisition and actual employment opportunities for young people”, she said, adding that participants were selected from more than 5,000 applications received for the programme.

She also said that after commencing operations last year, the Hub focused on building the innovation ecosystem in Kwara State through incubation, acceleration and other programmes, but recognised that developing the ecosystem without creating economic opportunities for young people would not be enough.

“We can’t talk about building the ecosystem without actually creating jobs”, Yahaya added.

According to her, the TWDP was developed after research into skills that organisations currently need, and which young people can acquire within a relatively short period.

She said the programme combines technical training, soft skills and employability readiness, stressing that the objective was not merely to train participants but to connect them with employers.

Yahaya disclosed that a career fair would be organised after the training, bringing employers from Nigeria and other parts of the world, both physically and virtually, to assess participants’ skills and portfolios and identify talents they could engage.

Yahaya urged the beneficiaries to take the opportunity seriously, noting that the absence of tuition fees should not make them treat the training casually.

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She said the programme was designed to expose participants to opportunities beyond their immediate environment and equip them with skills that could improve their career and earning prospects.

One of the participants, Lawal Opeyemi, a public speaker and entrepreneur, said she joined the programme after recognising the need to strengthen her marketing knowledge. Opeyemi said she had been approaching companies to help them build their brands but realised that knowledge of branding alone was not enough without a proper understanding of marketing. She described the training as a major opportunity to improve her capacity, create value for businesses and increase her earning potential.

Another participant, Charis Dayoeseyin, who enrolled in Virtual Assistance, said she was interested in improving her communication and digital skills because of the growing importance of technology in the workplace.

Sulyman Boluwatife, who enrolled in Content Creation and Video Editing, said he was looking forward to gaining practical knowledge and improving his ability to create quality content.

Also, Abdul Akeem Suleiman Olashina, a Digital Marketing participant, said he hoped to acquire deeper knowledge of digital marketing and understand how businesses can effectively promote their brands.

A facilitator, Abayomi-Perez Okekunle, Marketing Team Lead at Ennovate Lab, said workforce development was a continuous process because of the rapid changes taking place in technology and the workplace.

He encouraged young people to remain active in acquiring relevant skills that could improve their careers, create employment opportunities and help them adapt to the changing economy.

Yahaya also disclosed that the Hub runs other programmes, including the Scaling Homegrown Innovations & Frontier Technologies (SHIFT) Programme, which supports startups from the idea stage to product development and market entry, as well as the 18-month Learn2Earn Programme, which is training 171 full-stack AI engineers.

She added that nine high-potential startups had also been supported through the Hub’s acceleration programme, while other programmes were being run throughout the year for unemployed and underemployed young people.

The Ilorin Innovation Hub has more than 10,000 community members, and runs programmes focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, digital skills and workforce development.

With the first cohort expected to complete the training in November, attention will now shift to the planned career fair and the Hub’s target of moving at least half of the participants into paid employment within six months.