Lagos State Government Donates Youth Hubs For Youths Empowerment Program

Lagos State Government Donates Youth Hubs For Youths Empowerment Program

By Kazeem Akande

  

 

 The Lagos State Government has donated four hubs in the state to facilitates and accommodate the US Agency for International Development (USAID)'s projects on youths empowerment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that USAID's 'Youth-Powered Ecosystem to Advance Urban Adolescent Health' projects was aimed to empower youth with skills, social capital and resources needed to realise their full potentials.

Dr Olugbemiga Aina, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development during the official Inauguration of Araromi Youth Centre Gbagada Lagos urged the youths to take good advantage of the training to ensure their better future.

"The youths here are fortunate to be taught life skills, vocational and leadership skills to assist them become multi talented and help them take ownership of their future.

"This facility here accommodate more training centres for hundreds of youths within this community.

"And this training exercise the youth will be empowered to take positive decisions for themselves where an average youth will be able delay pregnancy to ensure better future.

According to him, the boys and girls can come here to make good use of the facilities and engage themselves in the training exercise organise by the

 international organisations.

Aina said that the state government was using the facilities to deliver skills to the teeming youth population as the way to make impact in engaging and providing employment for youths in the state.

Mrs Boladale Akin-Kolapo, Chief of Party USAID, in her remarks said that the projects adapt and scales evidence based with high impact skill programme which combined sport and play based activities.

Akin-Kolapo said that the programme was grouped in sessions led by Young Adult Coaches to spur healthy behaviour change and shift attitudes for more equitable gender norms.

Coaches will deliver skills interventions at designated youth hubs, safe places for youth to seek and access family planning and reproductive health information and referrals.

"It also help young people navigate health and social services by building sexual and reproductive health knowledge and life skills," she said.

She said that the programme will improve adolescent health by increasing access to voluntary family planning services an more holistic context of youth empowerment, coupled with a deeper understanding of the challenges the adolescents face.

Serah Akintubuwa, one of the beneficiaries of the training in Gbagada community thanked both the state government and USAID for  given the youth opportunity to determine their better future through the various programme in the centres.

"I was taught about the negative impact of early pregnancy, leadership and vocational skills to make me a multi talented person in the future," she said.

NAN reports that the newly inaugurated youth hub in Gbagada would accommodate hundreds of youths in the community for various trainings and vocational skills while other centres were located in Ikorodu, Badagry, and Epe area of the state (NAN)