FCT news

ActionAid provides succour to FCT community

Published

7 years ago

June 13, 2019

In a bid to give succour to the marginalised in the country, ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), an NGO, has built a two blocks of classroom and toilet facilities for Gofidna community.

The project was given to the community, a suburb of the Abuja Municipal Area Council, to allow for easy access to education.

At a meeting with the community chief and villagers on Thursday, Dr Jummai Umar-Ajijola, Board Chair, AAN, said the gesture was to ensure the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was achieved.

She said that AAN also deployed a reflect process in the community while ensuring capacity building for the women and youths.

According to her, recently 15 young men and women were trained on ICT for development under the AAN digitalisation project during which they acquire skills on the use of computer for communication, mobilisation and entrepreneurship.

“ActionAid has been working in Gofidna community for over 10 years now. Through the work that we have done, Gofidna community has a primary school.

“In the past, the children have to cross the road to attend school and because of that we have lost many children in this community to car accident because of the highway.

”But with what we have done with them through the recognition of their rights and advocacy to AMAC, the community started with the building of two blocks of classroom, AMAC built two blocks of classroom and AAN also built two.

”We have also done empowerment work with the women, ICT training with the youths. We want to ensure that unlike what happened to the millennium development goals, Nigeria attains at least 70 to 90 per cent of the goal.

”We will continue to work with the community based on their needs and help them to actualise it.”

Ajijola added that the organisation was using the platform to plant trees in order to make the environment befitting for all to dwell.

”This is the beginning of a programme that we are starting nationwide where in the life time of our 5 years strategic action plan we intend to plant 10,000 trees in our community. And this is directly linked to SDGs. If we do not grow our environment then everything we do is in vain,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Village Chief of the community, Chief Sumaila Tukura, lauded the AAN gesture of providing empowerment and building of classroom for residents.

Tukura noted that the community was a cluster of three village clans with same interest who had been focusing on the development of the community.

He, therefore, called for more infrastructure development in the area of healthcare facility, adding that the community had provided a place for the building of such facility.

Also, the Community Youth Leader, Tukura Al-Mustapha, commended late Abdullahi Atakpamuza, the village’s former chief, who facilitated the building of the school through contributions from villagers.

According to him, AAN and FCT came to this community in June 3, 2003 and were training us between 2003 and 2007 on advocacy plan.

“We were not taking them serious as at then because we don’t know if they are genuine. Not until 2008 and 2009, we decided to form a cooperative and engineered by late Abdullahi to gather money and build two classrooms and also hire a female teacher paying her N1,000 daily.

”Through our advocacy with the AMAC chairman, we were also given two blocks of classrooms. We cannot thank AAN enough who had helped to develop us through empowerment training, training in ICT and a whole lot of training.”

Al-Mustapha also pledged to utilise the projects while calling on the AMAC chairman to provide more developmental projects to ease the wellbeing of residents of the community.

Gofidna community is a village near Zuba along Kubwa expressway with a population of about 3500 people, children between ages of 10 and 17 years constitutes 55 per cent of the population.

Also, 90 per cent of the populations are farmers while 10 per cent are artisans who are into blacksmithing, petty trading and mechanics.

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FCT news

Beyond Displacement: How Vocational Training Is Empowering Over 100 Women and Girls in Abuja

Published

5 days ago

October 27, 2026

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

For women and girls living at the New Kuchingoro Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Abuja, rebuilding their lives requires more than shelter and basic necessities. The opportunity to acquire practical skills, earn an income and provide for their families can also play a crucial role in restoring confidence and creating a pathway towards economic independence.

This aspiration informed the five-day Life Skills Bootcamp organised by GLIDE Media Foundation in partnership with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), which provided more than 100 displaced women and girls with vocational training and start-up funding.

The programme, which culminated in a grand finale on Saturday, October 24, 2026, was designed to equip participants with practical knowledge, entrepreneurial skills and financial management techniques to help them establish small businesses and improve their livelihoods.

For the participants, the initiative offered an opportunity to explore income-generating activities that could help them support their families while navigating the economic difficulties associated with displacement.

Turning Skills into Opportunities

At the heart of the programme was the recognition that practical skills can open doors to economic opportunities, particularly for people facing difficult living conditions.

The bootcamp combined classroom-style sessions with hands-on vocational training, allowing participants to learn both the principles of running a business and the practical steps involved in producing goods for sale.

During the practical sessions, participants received training in making beaded slippers, baking, producing soap and preparing petroleum jelly.

They were divided into three groups, with specialised trainers demonstrating production techniques and supervising their activities.

Beyond learning how to make the products, participants received guidance on packaging, marketing and selling their goods. These additional skills were intended to help them understand how to turn their newly acquired abilities into viable small-scale businesses.

The provision of start-up funds at the conclusion of the programme was another important component, offering participants financial support to begin applying what they had learnt.

By combining vocational instruction with initial funding, the organisers sought to bridge the gap between acquiring skills and putting them to productive use.

Building Financial Confidence

The programme also recognised that earning money is only one part of running a successful business. Knowing how to manage income, control expenditure and save for future needs is equally important.

Consequently, the theoretical sessions covered budgeting, saving, expenditure planning and the need to keep personal finances separate from business funds.

Participants were encouraged to understand how financial decisions could affect their businesses and household welfare.

Facilitators also introduced digital financial services, including OPay and Moniepoint, highlighting their potential to support transactions and the management of small businesses.

The sessions provided an opportunity for participants already engaged in business to share their experiences, including the challenges of managing earnings and attracting customers.

Discussions also explored how social media could help entrepreneurs promote their products beyond their immediate communities and reach a wider customer base.

For aspiring business owners, these lessons offered a foundation for thinking beyond production to the practical demands of operating a business in an increasingly competitive environment.

Confidence, Parenting and Personal Development

While economic empowerment remained central to the initiative, the bootcamp also addressed personal development, decision-making, leadership and wellbeing.

Participants were encouraged to build confidence, identify achievable goals and recognise their capacity to contribute to their families and communities despite the challenges associated with displacement.

Parenting and child protection also featured prominently during the sessions.

Discussions covered positive parenting practices, children’s emotional wellbeing, school attendance and the difficulties of balancing childcare responsibilities with income-generating activities.

Facilitators emphasised the importance of supportive home environments and explained how parental behaviour could influence children’s development.

The inclusion of these subjects reflected the programme’s broader focus on helping participants navigate both their economic responsibilities and family obligations.

For women and girls managing several demands, the combination of livelihood training and personal development offered a more comprehensive approach to building resilience.

A Pathway Towards Economic Independence

GLIDE Media Foundation said the initiative was designed to equip displaced women and girls with practical skills that could support their families and reduce their dependence on external assistance.

The partnership with the NRS provided support for a programme that combined entrepreneurship, financial literacy, vocational instruction and start-up funding.

The foundation expressed hope that participants would continue developing their skills and translate the training into sustainable businesses capable of improving their economic circumstances.

However, the long-term impact of the initiative will depend partly on participants’ ability to establish businesses, attract customers and manage their earnings effectively.

Continued guidance, access to markets and opportunities to strengthen their skills could further support their efforts to build sustainable livelihoods.

For the more than 100 women and girls who participated, the bootcamp represents an opportunity to move from learning to action.

Ultimately, its success will be reflected not only in the skills acquired during the five days but also in how effectively participants use their training and start-up funds to generate income, support their families and build greater economic independence.

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