The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has begun the training of 130 women on various entrepreneurial skills in Imo.
Director-General of NDE Mallam Abubakar Nuhu-Fikpo said this while inaugurating the training in Owerri on Wednesday.
Nuhu-Fikpo said the five-day programme was organised by the Women Employment Unit in the Department of Small Scale Enterprises (SSE).
He said the training, which simultaneously took place in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, would have a multiplier effect on the beneficiaries.
He said the beneficiaries would be trained on make-up, stones and bead works, perfumery, events management, production of organic body wash and other natural organic products.
Nuhu-Fikpo, represented by the Imo Coordinator of the NDE, Mrs Ngozi Ihenacho, urged the trainers to see the programme as their contribution to ease the unemployment market.
“The seeds we are planting today will germinate and grow beyond our imagination because they will have a tremendous multiplier effect.
“With skills acquisition and empowerment, the unemployment rate in Imo and Nigeria at large, will be drastically reduced,” Nuhu-Fikpo said.
The SSE Director, Mr Sunday Apakasa, said NDE established a special unit for women in recognition of their role in nation building.
Apakasa, represented by a Deputy Director in the department, Mrs Carol Azubuike, urged the participants to make the best out of the training.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Miss Adaeze Egwuagu, a make-up trainee, thanked the NDE for organising the programme and pledged they would not depart from what they were taught.