As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, INTELS Nigeria Limited, a leading oil and gas Logistics Company has trained 92 women under its Women Empowerment Programme Scheme Synergy (WEPSS).
WEPSS was established in 2013 with the vision of empowering 5,000 women in the Niger-Delta over a 20-year period, through training in fashion design and tailoring.
Eighteen-year-old Joy Tom-West emerged the best performing trainee, winning a start-up kit comprising of an industrial sewing machine, steam iron, chair, scissors, seam ripper, box of tailors’ chalk and a measuring tape.
Phillip Embleton, who represented INTEL’s managing director at the graduation, urged the graduates to use their newly acquired skills for the development of self and community.
He also encouraged them to appreciate the dedication and hard work put in by their trainers during the four-month programme.
Nancy Freeborn, project head of WEPSS, described the occasion as special because WEPSS clocked five years in November 2018.
“The project commenced on November 6, 2013 with an intake of 300 rural women. These women were trained for a period of nine months, using different specialised machines, and afterwards, they remained at WEPSS, working and producing garments. WEPSS has produced over 50,000 garments over this period,” she said.
Freeborn said that WEPSS has over the years, increased its focus on training, while placing less emphasis on garment manufacturing. She said the centre currently absorbs a minimum of 300 trainees annually, who are taught to produce different types of garments.
She said that INTELS, through this scheme, has contributed to the national economy by deploying materials and machines from the global market, thereby promoting Nigerian content development.
“Every year, WEPSS makes thousands of garments for different charity homes. About 1,050 garments were donated to the Compassion Centre for the Physically Challenged in Port Harcourt in 2018,” she said.
AMAKA ANAGOR
