The Federal Government has intensified the implementation of its Renewed Hope Vocational and Skills Training Programme, with participants across the country undergoing practical training aimed at equipping them with employable skills, promoting entrepreneurship, and supporting poverty reduction efforts.
The nationwide programme, implemented by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, is expected to benefit 18,510 Nigerians.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard M. Doro, who officially flagged off the programme, described it as a major step in the government’s strategy to tackle poverty through sustainable economic empowerment.
According to a statement issued by the Minister’s Senior Technical Adviser on Information Systems and Data Analysis, Dr. Abimbola Fasanu, the initiative marks a shift from short-term poverty interventions to practical skills development that will enable beneficiaries to earn sustainable incomes and become economically self-reliant.
Speaking on the third day of the training at the Women Development Centre in Agege, Lagos, the Programme Coordinator and Centre Head, Mrs. Kemilat Opasaye, said the initiative aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda by empowering vulnerable Nigerians with practical vocational skills.
She said participants are receiving hands-on training in tailoring, welding, carpentry, catering, baking, agro-processing, bead and jewellery making, and other income-generating trades.
Opasaye added that beneficiaries would receive trade-specific starter packs at the end of the two-week training programme to enable them to establish their own businesses.
According to her, the programme is designed to create sustainable livelihoods, reduce unemployment, and empower participants to become employers of labour.
“This initiative is about giving Nigerians the opportunity to acquire practical skills that will improve their lives and enable them to build sustainable sources of income,” she said.
The programme forms part of the Ministry’s broader strategy of moving vulnerable Nigerians from dependence to economic self-reliance through sustainable empowerment initiatives.
It also complements the One Humanitarian–One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS), which seeks to integrate humanitarian assistance, social protection, skills development, and economic inclusion into a coordinated national poverty reduction framework.
Facilitators at the Lagos training centre commended the initiative, describing it as a practical intervention that provides participants with marketable skills and entrepreneurial knowledge through a combination of classroom instruction and intensive practical sessions.
Some participants also praised the programme. Miss Uche Obinna, a trainee in the baking class, said the practical lessons had given her the confidence to start her own business, while Mrs. Adebisi Muhammed, a tailoring trainee, described the programme as a pathway to financial independence through entrepreneurship.
The Renewed Hope Vocational and Skills Training Programme is being implemented simultaneously across the country as part of the Federal Government’s efforts to create sustainable livelihoods, expand economic opportunities, and lift Nigerians out of poverty through skills development, enterprise support, and inclusive social protection.
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