Khalil Halilu the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and founder of KSH Foundation has charged it newly unveiled Fellows with utilisation of tech skills for community development.
Mr. Halilu gave this advice while fielding questions from journalist in Abuja on Thursday at the unveiling ceremony of 15 young girls who participated in the 90 days immersive phase of EveryGirl 2.0 (Girl Connect) Initiative training programme organised by the foundation.
The event themed, “Empowering Tomorrow’s Women, One Connection at a Time,” featured the young fellows sharing their experience with the EveryGirl Initiative with a focus on their internet connectivity learning.
“Mainly, you see young people, especially in their teens, facing a critical gap when making career decisions after completing secondary school and planning for tertiary education. This is a make-or-break point for them.
“The idea is to provide them with mentorship, support, tools, gadgets, and some initial capital to start and run one or two businesses. It is okay if they fail, as the main goal is to gain experience and pair them with mentors who can show them how businesses are run in the real world, thereby encouraging them.
“It is not easy to be selected from among so many Nigerians. A significant amount of resources have been invested in their training, and mentors have generously given their time. Therefore, they should not take this opportunity for granted, and they should utilise it to make a difference in their various communities,” Mr. Halilu stated.
Commenting on how to encourage participation of vulnerables and downtrodden at the grassroot across the country he said, “We hope this programme will reach them one day. When we started, we began with 100 girls, and now we are talking about nearly 400, so we hope to continue expanding it. We also welcome other partners to join us in boosting and expanding this programme”.
The Fellows include; Unwana Benson, Ogunwale Praise Ifemid, Owei Sylvia, Peter Chidimma, Samson Deborah Testimony, Fatima Sanusi, Sidiqat Usman, Adetunji Lateefah Adedoyin, Saka Amirah Demilade, Ogechi Grace Abayomi, Precious Nwaobasi Udoka, Helen Abbey Paul, Eze Mmesoma Favour, Fawziyyah Muhammad and Unwana Okposin drawn across six geo-political zones of the country.
Recall that KSH Foundation select 15 exceptional young girls for the immersive phase EveryGirl 2.0 from a pool of 300 who participated in the virtual training phase.