Osun trains 20,000 youths on technology in two years

The Osun State Government has trained 20,000 youths in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Project Coordinator of the Osun Youths Empowerment Scheme Technology (OYESTECH), Abiodun Fesobi, disclosed this at a briefing in Osogbo, the state capital.

He said the programme was designed as an exit plan for the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) volunteers in the state and also to serve as support for other interested participants to be self-reliant.

He hinted that the objective of the programme was to impact participants with the required skills, which will enable them to be employed in any organisation and become owners of their businesses.

The scheme is all about skill acquisition through knowledge transfer with 10 training centres across the state, which gives training on telephone repairs, electronics and computer assembling, computer usage and entrepreneurship.

Besides the 5,000 participants trained in the first batch of the scheme, an additional 15,000 have been trained in different aspects of applied technology and they also re-trained others.

“Some of our graduates have also gone ahead to train over 150 persons, with success stories in their businesses.

“To achieve this set objective, the government through its investment arm, the Osun State Investment Company Limited (OSICOL) selected a technical partner, RLG with which it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and admission of 5,000 trainees in four batches and issued certificate to them.

Beneficiaries of the programme who spoke to The Guardian said the training enhanced their living condition and that of their families by making them productive and has enabled them to give back to the society.

Oseni Ibrahim, said: “I am one of the beneficiaries of the OYESTECH. The state government has tried by giving us the best and also sending us to Ghana for training. We were trained on information technology and when we returned, the government equipped us with the necessary tools.

Another beneficiary who is now the Director of Bayotek Computer Service, Abdul-Hakeem Babatunde said, “Bayotek Computer Services was founded after I graduated from the OYESTECH in 2011 and we were given a mandate to empower other youths so as to complement government’s efforts at reducing unemployment among the youth.”