One-hundred Persons of Concern across different camps in Nigeria have received Start-up kits from the Federal Government.
The Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim who distributed the Startup kits said it was a step towards ensuring self-reliance for the Persons of Concern.
According to her, the beneficiaries have undergone skill acquisition training programmes in various areas of interest to aid in addressing the plight of the Persons of Concern.
“First and foremost, training is being sustained across board, across sectors. For this particular training, 100 people were trained in about almost 10 different trades. You can see they are all excited, they are not only being trained, but they are certified. Among them are certified photographers, they have gone through the NABTEB, there are certified tye & dye specialists, there are certified fashion designers. So they are certified in the fields that they’ve been trained. So that means, they can be able to beat their chests and say “look I know about photography”.
“What we are looking for is sustainability, not just durable solutions. So, the Federal Government is committed to the highest forms of sustainable and durable solutions for all Persons of concerns.”
“Most of our trainings are tailor-fit, we look for interest, we look for natural skills and talents and sometimes words of mouth, these trainings are not secret they are being thrown out, so people that are interested will declare interest. And we have our database that also kind of indicates who wants to do what,” Suleiman-Ibrahim explained
On Federal Government’s plan to exit IDPs camps across the country, she said, “It’s actually exit camps, but if you say closed down it’s a bit harsh. Yes, we don’t want camps we want to build self-sufficiency; we don’t want overdependence on government. Every country wants contributory members of the society. The core mandate of this Agency is the provision of durable solutions for persons of concern and we are committed to ensuring that these people build their resilience, we have the coping mechanisms they can contribute, they can earn, they can help the economy of this country and they can bounce back.”
She said the training cuts across the country.
“So we do train them across the FCT, so we are exiting camps and the pilot is from FCT and most of these beneficiaries are not just IDPs, but there are also Refugees and other Persons of Concerns. So, it cuts across board, we have a lot of beneficiaries, but from today going forward, as I told you they’ve transited from being IDPs to Persons of Concerns to Victorious people and now they are Entrepreneurs. There are 100 of them”.
Accpording to her, the training has been going on since last month.
“So, durable solution is the keyword, we don’t want over-dependency on the government, we can’t afford to feed. No government can afford over-dependency from Persons of Concerns. These problems are evolving so we also have to step up and intensify on our interventions and we are on the right track.
“For the photographers they have the cameras and also they will get a computer afterwards. For the people making beads, they will get some money to buy tools and also tool box for the basic things they need but they can’t buy at the market, for the Tie & Dye Specialists, the also got money to buy materials and they got the kits of the Tye & Dye needs. Like for the certified Fashion Designers, they have their sewing machines and some kits and materials to begin to start sowing. So, it’s tailor-fit,”
When asked if the Commission had a target number of trainees, the Federal Commissioner said it’s a lot of numbers.
“We are about 3.4 million IDPs as of June, July, August. After the devastating flood across the country, it rose to about 40 percent more, almost over 5 million, it’s difficult to train 5 million people at a stretch. What we are praying for is to intensify the effort and then build the momentum and then we have the ripple effects,” Imaan emphasized.
