The Federal Government says, considering their skills and entrepreneurship, the average artisan in the country should be an employer of labour.
The FG also declared support for the artisans via the annual National Sewing Championship, which is held annually to upscale participants’ skills.
Speaking at this year’s event on Tuesday in Abuja at the presentation of the 2024 edition of the championship, the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, noted that Nigeria is blessed with talents, hence the need to encourage artisans to broaden their horizons.
Noting that skills development is one of the eight-point agenda of the President Bola Tinubu administration, he says the event is aimed at encouraging artisans to not only be self-employed but to also be employers of labour.
Sununu praised the Ladi Memorial Foundation (LMF), the organisers of the championship, for catching children young and bringing out their talents and making them self-reliant.
The minister enjoined the LMF to continue to inculcate skills in youths, while also promising to integrate basic academic knowledge in the skills.
Responding, the Executive Director of the foundation, Mrs. Rosemary Osikoye, said the project would boost the productivity of Nigerian youths.
She said that the championship, which was first hosted in the FCT in 2023, was introduced to remove stigma associated with being an artisan.
She disclosed that the 2024 edition of the championship would bring together 333 contestants from the nation’s six geo-political zones within the age range of 12 to 22 years.
Osikoye said the 333 contestants would be equipped with basic sewing tools and equipment.
