On Saturday, more than 600 young people, including some with impairments, started a six-month program that will increase their independence by teaching them computer literacy and solar installation.

The Federal Ministry of Education and the World Bank collaborated to organise Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills, which assessed the cost of the training at N125 million.

Usman Tela, the IDEAS Innovation Grant Manager, stated during the event that the training will enable the recipients to become independent.

“We are here for participant and facilitator orientation to ensure a smooth start to the training,” stated Tela. The six-month program consists of three months of training, followed by three months of internship, mentoring, and pitching.

The organisation applied for and was awarded the grant through a competitive process that included publishing and a call for proposals. Together with the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities and the Hope Foundation for the Disabled, they arrived as a consortium, passed the exam, were given an interview, and were then invited to additional interviews. They committed to providing 20% of the counterpart funds when we came with the World Bank to evaluate their facilities.

Dr. Ishaku Adamu, the Project Lead for the Disabled at the Hope Foundation for the Disabled, also spoke and stated, “We selected people based on their interest.” We are going to educate them various computer and solar installation skills.

“Our organisation is responsible for training 600 people in total, divided into two batches. We will begin by training 300 people, graduate them for an internship after three months, and enrol another 300, bringing the total number of trainees to 600. However, due to high demand, we plan to increase the number of trainees to 700.”