By Josephine Obute
Lagos – A Skill Empowerment Director, Steven Godwin, on Monday, urged parents to get their kids involved in a skill during the ongoing long vacation to keep them off the streets.
Godwin spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) during an ongoing free skill acquisition training for over 200 young boys and girls in Igando/Ikotun Local Council area in Lagos.
The director, PELLX Empowerment Programme (PEP), said that if the children were left idle, without engaging them with one skill or the other especially during the holidays, they could get into wrong hands.
“Two weeks into the long vacation, some children are still roaming about the streets without getting themselves involved in one training or the other.
“The long vacation is a good time to engage these children with additional non-academic knowledge because the school period does not afford them time to go into such training.”
The skill facilitator noted that the school curriculum did not provide opportunities for some children to acquire such skills practically due to a number of limitations.
“As a non-profit organisation that is focused on empowering our young children through skills acquisition as our contribution to this vacation, we encourage our parents to key into it.
“This training was made free to encourage the less privileged parents to give their children a trade that will keep them off the streets by assembling them for a viable project.
“We teach them skills such as bead making, Ankara craft, mobile phone repairs, make-up, catering etc, all in a bid to have our children return to school more enriched.”
The entrepreneur further encouraged parents and children to use this opportunity to acquire more knowledge and skills knowing that no one could give that which he or she never had.
“The truth is that in our society today, it has become a necessity for people to have a hand work even with their academic qualifications to support themselves financially.
“Getting to have a skill added to academic qualification would allow more graduates to contribute positively to the society and to their lives, including that of their loved ones too.”
He said that the programme would expose them to various creative skills that would eventually help them become financially independent and also reduce unemployment in the country.
“A nation with lesser job suffers higher crime rate, but a nation with higher jobs, enjoys peace and prosperity.
“The challenge of other vices in youths such as cultism, cyber crimes and thuggery was a product of idle and unemployed youths and could be reduced through involvement with skill acquisition.”
Godwin said that such youth challenges could be eliminated if the parents devoted more of their attention to monitoring their children and their acquaintances.
“Our parents can always take their time to teach their kids the ugly consequences of such bad behaviour, which ends in regrets,” he said.
He then urged religious leaders, school owners and the government to assist in order to eradicate such ugly acts in the youths and have a crime free society.
(NAN)
