Empowerment of women and, by extension, youths is very essential to the task of ensuring national growth and development. Senator Kola Balogun said this at the two-day training and empowerment programme for women and youths in the Oyo South Senatorial District, held at the Cooperative Hall, University of Ibadan, on Wednesday and Thursday.
The program, facilitated by Senator Balogun, was organised by the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) in conjunction with Venamin International Corporate Services Ltd.
Alhaji Adebayo Aruna, the head of administration at the Senator Kola Balogun Corporate Office, represented the senator at the event.
The beneficiaries of the programme, including 22 females and three males drawn from the senatorial district, were trained in the art of baking cakes and the making of meat pies and fish pies and were also given the sum of N50,000 each as their start-off capital.
Senator Balogun said women are generally good managers of resources, adding that they know how to utilise even a little amount of money to uplift the socio-economic status of members of their immediate family.
Women are often considered better managers of resources than men. An average woman knows how to utilise the money at her disposal to manage the home front.
“Yes, we need money to make life and living more meaningful for the people. However, in the face of the meagre resources available to us, we must know how to make good use of what is available.
“To some people, N50,000 may be a little money that one cannot put to good use. However, we all know that such an amount, if well-utilised, can positively transform one’s life.
“Being the pillars of the house, we are training our women in the art of cake baking and the making of meat-pie and fish-pie. We know that food is part of the sustenance of human beings.
“No human can survive without having good food in his or her stomach. That is why we want to encourage our women and youths to embrace ventures that can ensure food production.
Beyond the traditional foods, including pounded yam, rice and beans, amala and others, snacks also serve the purpose of a good meal. Our women should know how well to make good snacks to increase our sources of food and also improve our health,” he said.
Alhaji Aruna urged the beneficiaries to put the essence of the training to good use and also utilise the seed money for its intended purpose.
He assured that more such training and empowerment programmes would be made available to the people of Oyo South Senatorial District as soon as funding becomes available.
“I want to assure you that your representative at the National Assembly, Senator Kola Balogun, is more than willing to facilitate more and more training and empowerment programmes like this.
The problem is that there is a paucity of funds now, as the Federal Government is cash-strapped. However, more will be done in phases as soon as money is made available,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Adelowo Adeniyi, a staff member of the National Biosafety Management Agency, urged the beneficiaries to put what they learned and the start-up capital into good use.
He said no knowledge, no matter how little, is lost, adding that the beneficiaries can turn out to be successful entrepreneurs if they put into practice what they were taught during the training and empowerment program.
