By Justina Auta
Abuja – Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen, on Friday called on female artisans to be outstanding and bridge existing labour gaps in the male dominated profession.
Tallen, represented Mrs Funke Oladipo, the Director, Women and Gender Department in the ministry, made the call at the graduation ceremony of the Advance Female Artisanship programme.
The programme was in commemoration of the 2020 International Women’s Day celebration in Abuja on Thursday.
According to her, women empowerment remains a priority to the government as it would aid in job creation, promote national development and achieve gender equality, hence the need to invest in it.
She said: “This programme has been structured to give you a voice in a male dominated profession, bridge existing labour gaps in the artisan sector.
“And, boost your confidence to cope in an environment where competition is the order of the day and innovation is needed to stay afloat.
“The importance of empowering female youths as skilled workers who will have a competitive edge over their male counterparts in a competitive environment as ours cannot be over-emphasised.’’
The minister, therefore, encouraged the artisans to be a role-model to other girls and ambassadors of Nigerian women in the quest for gender justice and the future of women and girls.
Director General, National Centre for Women Development (NCWD), Mrs Mary Ekpere-Eta, said 106 female artisans were trained on tiling and masonry, POP, plumbing and pipe fitting, plant and generator mechanics, refrigeration and air condition repairs.
Ekpere-Eta added that the training was in collaboration with a German organisation, Duetshe Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to enhance the skills of identified female artisan to be agents of change in the construction industry.
“These female professional artisans launched into the construction industry will break gender barriers and make available affordable and excellent artisanship services, while being economically empowered in the Nigerian construction industry.
“The idea was to empower female youths as skilled workers who will have a competitive edge over their male counterparts by empowering them with the driving force to start small-scale economic activities and gain employment.’’
The NCWD boss, further disclosed that the artisans also had seminar organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria and Bank of Industry on how they can access start-up funds between N1 million to N10 million.
UN Women Country Representative, Comfort Lamptey, encouraged the female artisans to be focused and utilised the skills acquired towards empowering themselves and contributing towards diversifying the nation’s economy.
Also, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr William Alo, reiterated the commitment of the government towards job creation in view of the unemployment rates in the country.
Alo, represented by a Deputy Director in the ministry, Mr Imran Najeemdeen, called on the artisans to contribute immensely towards training and retraining of other unemployed persons, which would create employment.
Similarly, Ms Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasised the role of women empowerment in achieving the SDGs, particularly goal five.
Orelope-Adefulire, therefore advised the female artisans to make judicious use of the free starter packs donated to them by NCWD to enable them practice the profession without much hitches.
She cautioned them not to sell or trade their start-up packs.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 106 female artisans were all given a start-up pack and seed grants.
(NAN)