03/03/2025
A few weeks ago, we concluded a phase in youth skills development and employment creation that we began 5 years ago with partnership support and funding, primarily from Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta - PIND. It has been an incredible journey for usโstarting as a mere passion for equipping youths with skills for meaningful livelihoods and later evolving into a career path for us as an organization.
Recognizing the truth in the saying, โSkills are the new currency of the job market, and those who possess them are the ones most likely to succeed,โ we have focused our training on real skills - physical in-demand skillsโparticularly within the expansive and viable infra-build/building construction sector in the Niger Delta - a sector where competent artisans remain in short supply, with many being imported from Ghana and Togo, despite rising youth unemployment in the region.
Modeled around evidence-based, competency-driven, and industry-relevant delivery, our greatest achievement is our training of over 1,000 youths, mainly in Akwa Ibom and across the Niger Delta in various building construction skills (๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ง๐ & ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐ฌ & ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ง๐๐ & ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ & ๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ซ๐ง ๐
๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ซ ๐
๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐
๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, among others). supporting many of the beneficiaries in entrepreneurship start-ups and facilitated linkages to job for others within the sector.
Our focus in the next phase is targeted towards bringing geographical in-demand and market-relevant skills training to the disadvantaged and excluded youths in rural communities as a way of mitigating rural-urban migration and enhance peace-building efforts by engaging youths in meaningful economic activities within the Niger Delta. We look forward to partnership in this regard.
~ IdeEkpe Fabian Emmanuel, Lead Consultant, Azure & Gold Development Foundation, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, 08064445235