The Federal Government has declared support for the annual National Sewing Championship in order to upscale artisan skills.
The Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the presentation of the 2024 edition of the championship.
The Minister said Nigeria was blessed with a lot of talents and there was the urgent need to encourage them to increase their horizons.
He said skill development was among the eight- point agenda of the administration of President Bola Tinubu and it is aimed at encouraging artisans to stand on their own and be employer of labour.
Sununu commended Ladi Memorial Foundation (LMF), the organiser of the championship, for catching children young and bringing out their talents and making them self reliant.
He enjoined the foundation to continue to inculcate skills in the young ones while also promising to integrate basic academic knowledge in the skills.
Mrs Rosemary Osikoye, the Executive Director of the foundation, said the project, which aligned with the renewed hope agenda of Tinubu, 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 the trade.
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.(NAN)
