The Nasarawa State Government has approved N160 million seed funds for the first set of trainees graduated at the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) tagged, “Second Chance School” held in Akwanga.
Governor Abdullahi Sule announced this during the graduation ceremony at a school in Kurmin Tagwaye in Akwanga Local Government Area on Saturday.
The 160 trainees, who are mostly school drop-outs, widows and orphans within the age of 15 to 25, received N100,000 each to start their own businesses, after acquiring skills in eight different trades, namely, computer, weaving, knitting, tailoring, catering, horticulture, cosmetology and pottery.
The governor said he was happy because his Administration was able to achieve the purpose of establishing the Second Chance Model School as conceived by UBEC.
“First, let us thank the Almighty God for giving us the opportunity to see a day like this. For me, today is indeed one of my happiest days.
“It’s always exciting to think about something, start it, and be able to see it mature to the point where we are graduating students from this Second Chance Model School.
“There were going to be six of its kind in Nigeria, one each in the six geopolitical zones. The Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Dr Hamid Bobboi, wanted me to select a location for the school, and I picked Akwanga.
“This is because the other zones have several similar institutions, but Akwanga zone is lagging behind. It’s solely because of that that I selected Akwanga to host this institution.
“On the day we are commissioning this school, Dr Bobboi said something that made me sit up. He said, when they were thinking of setting up this institution, Nasarawa State would be ideal because he knew the governor, and he knew the governor would drive it until it is fully implemented”, he stated.
