The Honourable Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), Mrs. Cecilia Dada, has reaffirmed that its training initiatives aimed at alleviating poverty and engaging the indigent across the State, are tuition-free for the general public.
The Commissioner, who disclosed this today at the Y2021 Ministerial Press Briefing held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Secretariat, Alausa, to commemorate the second anniversary of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration, explained that all the Ministry’s programmes for short, medium and long-term training are tuition-free, urging the general public to report anyone demanding payment to access any of the training programmes.
She said, “We have 20 various vocations, which are targeted at supporting trainees towards the path of self-reliance and financial independence. These trainees are taught different skills across the three Senatorial Districts of the State, with certificates awarded upon completion to afford the trainees opportunity for internship in various multi-nationals and industries within the State”.
According to her, over 10,000 trainees have already graduated from government-owned 19 skills acquisition centres in the last two years, restating the Ministry’s mandate to ensure that there is zero-tolerance for mediocrity, poverty and idleness, especially among indigent women and the vulnerable members of the public in Lagos.
Mrs. Dada also revealed that since good parenting is the foundation for a progressive Society, WAPA organised a training programme for 200 parents in August 2020 with a special focus on human trafficking enlightenment and how to curb the menace.
Her words: “We want a productive society directed at uplifting best practices for our development and progress but we realised that domestic violence is taking its toll on our societal values and thus, requires concerted efforts to ensure adequate strategies are initiated to curb the menace. It is in this regard that WAPA marked 16 days of activism with 2,500 participants in attendance in the fourth quarter of 2020”.
While also informing that the Ministry had rendered livelihood support of N20,000 each to over 1,450 women in the year 2020, the Commissioner revealed that another 1,500 women will be benefiting from the same gesture in June 2021 during International Widows Day.
