By Lucy Ogalue
A foundation, LeLook Bags Academy, has empowered some youth through skill acquisition to tackle the increasing rate of unemployment in the country.
The Managing Director of LeLook, Chinwe Ezenwa, made this known during the graduation ceremony of the “2024 Look and Learn Group Programme” in Abuja on Wednesday.
The “Look and Learn” module provided practical training to 15 participants, including one person living with disability.
The programme, which offered free training, aimed to address the lack of practical skills among graduates who have struggled to find employment after years of theoretical studies.
Ezenwa expressed her fulfilment and commitment to continuing the initiative, including plans to replicate the model in other African countries.
She said she would leverage LeLook’s certification under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to expand its operations across the continent.
The chief executive urged the graduates to be good ambassadors and live up to the training they had received.
“Never look down on any opportunity, no matter how small it may seem. The skills you acquire today can place you among the leaders of tomorrow,” she said.
Also speaking, Mrs Racheal Adeniji, Assistant Director, FCT Department of Science Technology and Innovation, said entrepreneurship was the way forward.
She urged the graduates to see the skill acquired as a journey and not a destination and ensure to be relevant and explore opportunities available to them.
One of the programme’s graduates, Emmanuel Ebirim, shared his journey, expressing his initial doubts about acquiring skills in just four months.
“Through the training, I learned to use both manual and industrial sewing machines and I am now capable of making various types of bags.
“I am so excited, and I am grateful for this opportunity,” Ebirim said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the graduates were awarded with cash gifts for outstanding performance during the training programme. (NAN)