ACCENT-Spring Entrepreneurship Development Initiative, focusing on providing youth with self-employment skills has launched the Multi-Skill Teenpreneurship Programme (MSTP Africa) project to provide entrepreneurial knowledge and opportunities for teenagers in Ondo state.
Speaking on Wednesday during the launching of the programme, held at the St. Louis Girls Grammar School, Akure, Wale Akinyanmi, chief executive officer, MSTP, said through the program, nine schools in the three senatorial districts of Ondo State have been provided with tools and equipment worth close to N35million.
BusinessDay reports that as the first of its type in Africa, MSTP was introduced to Ondo State in May 2023, commencing a 3-year pilot phase in the state.
According to him, the goal was to contribute to the economic transformation of Nigeria and Africa by creating a productive workforce that can fulfill the aspirations of the growing youth populace, their families and their communities as well.
“To monitor and manage the vocational instructors employed for each of the schools, a project management office has been established for the program. All the
instructors have been trained by a corps of Master Trainers from LAHI, India.
“One unique aspect of the program is that schools’ Parents-Teachers Associations, Old Students Associations, communities, and industry leaders are given the
opportunity for partnership and ownership. We envisage that this will bring sustainability to the project.
“We strongly believe that promoting skill-based education in Africa, especially Nigeria is long overdue, given the global shift towards investing in skills rather than certificates, and our dear nation cannot afford to be left behind.
“Therefore, the opportunity to collaborate with LAHI, Lend A Hand India and leverage their 16 years of experience in skills-based education for Africa was
irresistible,” Akinyanmi said.
Introducing the MSTP, Lawrence Afere, the Co-Founder of the program said; “the MSTP and the LAHI teams are on a rescue mission and we are on a mission to create a new path for our world by empowering children, teens and youth with multi skills that will transform them into solution providers.”
While the Co-Founder, Lend-A-Hand India (LAHI) Ms Sunanda Mane said; “hands-on learning and skills acquisition are critical for the growth, economic sustainability, and competitiveness of countries, and ultimately for employability.”
According to her, “we would like to move from the nine pilot schools to eventually covering all major schools in the state and of course some other states in Nigeria before venturing to other parts of Africa. MSTP is basically a project for Africa, taking root from Ondo State, Nigeria.”
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who launched the program, therefore, appreciated the Lend-A-Hand, India (LAHI) and its partner ACCENT Spring Entrepreneurship for making Ondo state first among equals in launching the program in the state.
Aiyedatiwa, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Segun Omojuwa said; “the swinging pendulum of teaching and learning in Developed and Developing Nations have shifted systematically from ordinary quest for paper certificates to Science, Technology and Entrepreneurship (STE) that will open doors for the needed innovation and creativity to solve socioeconomic challenges in our society.
“It was on this basis that our administration in Ondo State is fighting tooth and nail to ensure the continued provision of functional education and human capacity development for its citizenry.”
