PAAYEF empower fashion design graduands with sewing machines, start-up capital »

…as governor Bello supports graduands with N500,000 each

Pharm Adulkareem Asuku youth empowerment Foundation (PAAYEF) is one of the leading brands in human capital development, educational advancement and youth empowerment in Kogi State. The foundation in collaboration with Yem- Fashion Academy celebrated the graduation of nineteen successful students across the 21 Local government areas of Kogi State while empowering them with equipments and start-up capital.

At the graduation ceremony held today in government house Lokoja, governor Yahaya Bello commended Pharmacist Adulkareem Asuku and the leadership and members of PAAYEF for successfully training the youths across the 21 LGA of the state in fashion and design.

He lauded the vision and efforts of the progenitor of the foundation in assisting the beneficiaries at discovering their skills and potential, harnessing them and contributing to the economic growth of the state.

Bello also congratulated the graduating students on successfully completing the intensive training in fashion designing and urged the graduands to utilise the skills they have acquired to create wealth, provide quality services and impact the next generation of fashion designers in the state stating that the economy of any society is mainly influenced by its entrepreneurs ready to be productive.

“I want to commend you, particularly Hon Abdulkareem Asuku for placing emphasis on training the youths in Kogi State, particularly in fashion design. This government will always partner with foundations such as this that seek to deepen the spirit of the New Direction government in our people.”

“I have been telling people that gone are the days where politics was meddled With empowerment, this is the true form of empowerment. The primary thing is your skill, what you do, and what you can do best. I want to charge all of you that today is a day you can never forget in a lifetime because I know after today you will not remain the same again” he said.

The governor announced the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira for each beneficiary to enable them return to their local government areas and replicate the empowerment by starting strong from the grassroot.

Earlier in his remarks, the founder of PAAYEF, Pharm. Abdulkareem Asuku noted that he was inspired to commence the free entrepreneurship training for youths across the state following the new direction drive of governor Yahaya Bello.

He explained that the free training programme was in line with the new direction blueprint of the governor, and fulfilment of their promise to support the governor actualize his vision of making Kogi an entrepreneur-driven society. He stressed that the principle of “togetherness and unity” introduced by the governor giving room for inclusiveness has birthed the need to show the youth “how to fish rather than giving them fish”

“The Free Entrepreneurship training is tailored to stir interest for practical skills acquisition. Our goal is to transform the mindsets and attitudes of young people from all walks of life to become self-reliant, agents of sustainability and development”, Asuku stressed.

He thanked the governor for providing support and most especially for transforming the state far better than the way it was when he was sworn-in in 2016.

Earlier in her welcome address, PAAYEF Focal Person, Hon. Sandra Mimi, thanked Gov Bello for providing direction for many to follow, particularly in the numerous empowerment exercises he has carried out across the state.

Mimi expressed gratitude to Pharmacist Asuku, the founder of PAAYEF, for putting smiles on the faces of kogites while enumerating PAAYEF’s achievements over the years, maintaining that beneficiaries were meticulously selected across the state’s 21 local government areas without regard for sentiments. Sandra charged the graduates to make a difference in their communities and in Kogi state as a whole.

The trainer and Chief Executive Officer of The Yem Fashion Academy, Mrs Apayemi Alonge in her speech, thanked the founder of the foundation for entrusting her with the responsibility of training the graduating students in fashion and design for almost 8 months while emphasising that with the training and empowerment, Pharm. Asuku has given hope to the hopeless in the state.

She charged the graduands to pursue their dreams with dedication noting that she wants to see them at the top.

In his good goodwill message, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Yemi Jones, appreciated the state governor for transforming the state especially in the aspect of infrastructural development. He expressed optimism that with the type of PAAYEF entrepreneurship development, the state will become a centre of envy among the comity of states. He thanked the founder of PAAYEF for understanding the fact that training young people to become self-reliant and to engender productive tendencies in the society was a collective responsibility as government could not do it alone.