A Non-governmental Organisation dedicated at empowering young women and girls, SheCan Nigeria, in collaboration with Cummins West Africa limited has empowered about 45 girls at the Correctional Centre for Girls in Idi-Araba, Lagos. This comes after a six-month advanced skill acquisition training programme.
The project supported by GlobalGiving equipped participants with various vocational skills, such as; adire tie and dye, catering and pastries, tailoring, hair, bag, wig and shoe making.
The training also provided girls who had already left the facility with startup grants and essential machinery to help them reintegrate into society and become self-sufficient.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony held at the Centre today, founder, SheCan Nigeria, Ezinne Ezeani, emphasized the significance of the initiative.
She said: “It is in the power of doing more that we decided to come to the correctional center to empower the girls. They often leave without any viable skill or opportunity, so we thought it wise to provide comprehensive training.”
According to Ezeani, SheCan Nigeria conducted a two-week training programme at the center but, recognising the need for a more substantial impact, the social impact organisation extended the training to six months.
“Over this period, participants have acquired various skills, and the results have been promising. We are pleased to announce that several girls who were released earlier this year and some last year are already working. Today, we are empowering them further with sewing machines, mixers, and other tools to boost their businesses,” Ezeani said.
She explained that the decision to focus on the correctional center was deliberate.
“While we conduct other empowerment programmes in different locations, we believed it would be particularly impactful to support the girls at the correctional center. As part of their training, the girls completed assignments on the skills they learned, culminating in a grand finale event,” she added.
Reflecting on the broader goals of the initiative, the founder said, the organisation’s bigger picture is for the girls to leave the center and become individuals they can be proud of, having sown a seed of hope into their lives.
Managing Director, Cummins West Africa Limited, Mark Oni-Okeke expressed satisfaction for the completion of the transformative six-month project.
He said: “Today, we celebrate the success of a six-month project aimed at equipping these girls with valuable skills. As you can see, we now have women proficient in making wigs, bags, shoes, tie-dye materials, and catering.”
According to him, the training programme not only focused on hard skills but also emphasised soft skills crucial for entrepreneurship.
“These young women are now fully equipped to face the world. They have learned essential social skills, how to engage, network, collaborate, and effectively manage their businesses.
“The initiative has provided the girls with a comprehensive skill set to ensure their successful reintegration into society. Through this programme, they are now prepared to become self-sufficient entrepreneurs, ready to navigate and thrive in the competitive business environment,” Oni-Okeke said.
He applauded SheCan Nigeria, for its professionalism and commitment to empowering young women.
“We partnered with SheCan on this project, and their professionalism is second to none. I’m thrilled with the project’s success and the substantial progress these young women have made,” he lauded.
CIT sponsor for Cummins, Bobo Nwandu noted that when a woman is trained, a community is trained.
“So we made sure we give them skills that they can take away that can sustain them and their family in order for them to stay away from danger, trouble or crime,” he stated.
