Ogun State Government has assured of its cooperation and support for the Federal Government’s skill acquisition scheme, Project T-MAX, a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme aimed at lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2030.
While receiving the Project T-MAX team, led by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Education Intervention, Mr Fela Bank-Olemoh on Wednesday, the Deputy Governor, Engr Noimot Salako-Oyedele explained that the state has become attractive for training programmes like the T-Max project owing to the various policies introduced by the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration, which has also played a critical role at making the state attractive to investors.
Salako-Oyedele, who stood in for Governor Abiodun, noted that the present administration has improved the ease of doing business to ensure that investors continue to find the state attractive, adding that a lot of investment has gone into infrastructure development, with major construction of roads embarked upon in industrial areas.
The state’s No 2 citizen welcomed the T-Max intervention by the Federal Government, saying the project would further complement the efforts by the present state administration to give technical education to the people, while assuring the T-Max team of the government’s support.
To this end, the Federal Government has opened an online portal to enroll people between age 18 to 35 into the skills acquisition programme, aimed at lifting 100 million people out of poverty by year 2030.
No fewer than 2000 people in the state are expected to benefit from the special project. Interested participants from Lagos and Ogun States are to visit www.T-Max.ng from Thursday, 1 September.
According to the SSA to the President, the programme would train 15, 000 people across the seven states of Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Enugu, Nasarawa, Gombe and Kaduna, noting that Project T-Max is approved under the National Steering Committee on National Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy.
Bank-Olemoh further noted that about 18 different skills, ranging from ICT to engineering services would be acquired by the respective participants in the state, adding that the training period would be for three months.
He said: “We will be training close to 18 skills; ICT, fashion, building and construction, engineering services, etc.
“What we have done when it comes to the skills we will be focusing on. We are working with the Ogun State team, based on the industries in Ogun and based on the skills gap in the state. Two thousand individuals will be trained in Ogun State over the next three months.
“The key thing is that delivery partners will be TVET centres based in Ogun State, we have done a lot of work in that area, we’ve certified some TVET centers in the state.
“One of the key things we are trying to achieve with this programme is to reduce poverty, so, we will be putting money into the hands of these centers and we are excited about that. Another key thing is that we are going to be giving starter packs to the best students, so the very best students will be getting starter packs depending on the skills they are trained on”, he said.
While noting that residents of the state between the age of 18-35 are eligible to learn a skill under the programme, Bank-Olemoh added that the programme is meant only for those who have the time and would be serious about the training.
He noted that the Industrial Training Fund would be ensuring that the training meets the standards set by the Federal Government, adding that the government is also working to ensure internship placement for students that go through the programme.
On his part, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Technical and Vocational Education Board, Prof. Sunday Odemuyiwa commended the Federal Government for the initiative which he said would help to take youths off the street through vocational education, adding that the T-Max project is a welcome idea which falls within the focus of the state administration.
