The Bauchi State Orphans and Vulnerable Children Agency (BASOVCA) has graduated 101 orphans and vulnerable children from the skills acquisition scheme, just as they were presented with gifts of starter packs that will enable them to start their own businesses.
The Executive Chairman of the agency, Alhaji Ibrahim Hali Abdullahi, stated this in Bauchi on Thursday.
According to Abdullahi, the focus of the training programme was on vocational trades and skills acquisition that could easily be converted into small businesses to create steady means of income for the beneficiaries OVCs in the state.
“The starter packs would enable the beneficiaries to take-off smoothly and possibly later transform into small or medium scale enterprises.
“The effort is also to build capacity among the vulnerable children by empowering them with necessary skills to make them self-reliant.
“The training was done in areas such as Fashion Designing, Catering and Confectioneries Production, Hairdressing and Barbing, Leather Shoes, as well as Liquid Soap, Detergents and Disinfectant Production, among a host of other skills,” he stated.
Abdullahi also explained that the agency distributed food and clothing materials to the Orphans and Vulnerable Children across the state under the shelter interventions.
He said that the agency upgraded the Ambassador M C Abubakar Vocational College to Technical college to provide advanced skills to the vulnerable children in the society.
Abdullahi however commended the state governor, Mohammed Abubakar, for giving the agency all the necessary support to implement all the projects.