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The Ishk Tolaram Foundation has empowered 276 young Nigerians with technical and vocational skills as part of its drive to close industry knowledge gaps and enhance employability across key sectors.
The beneficiaries received hands-on training in various trades, including solar installation, fashion design, carpentry and furniture making, masonry and tiling, and other vocational fields.
The achievement was announced during the Ishk Graduation and Skilling Conference 2025, themed “Fragmentation to Synergy: Strengthening Collaboration in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Employment Creation”, which took place in Lagos.
Oje Ivagba, programme director of the Foundation, said there is a need for the Private and Public Sectors to synergise in the skill development of the youths, noting that working in isolation would bring minimal impact in the youth employment bid.
Ivagba said the training journey is designed to empower the students by developing their personal, technical, and entrepreneurial skills, enabling them to enter the workforce or start their own businesses.
He said: “The Ishk Graduation & Skilling Conference is a platform for driving twofold agendas: celebrating the resilience of young people in acquiring vocational skills and their journey to decent employment, and convening key actors and stakeholders who are pivotal to strengthening TVET outcomes in Nigeria.
“There is a need to chart a path from fragmentation to synergy, building a more integrated, responsive, and impactful TVET system that enhances workforce readiness and drives employment creation.”
During his goodwill message, Akinyemi Bankole Ajigbotafe, Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, stated that the state will host the Lagos Y2025 Job Fair on Thursday, September 11, 2025, with more than 100 employers, industry partners and mentors expected to participate.
According to the Commissioner, the job fair is part of the state’s commitment to creating employment pathways and supporting young graduates, entrepreneurs and job seekers with direct access to top recruiters across various sectors of the economy.
Also speaking, Abiola Oyeneye, programme manager of the Ishk Tolaram Foundation, stressed the need to enhance collaboration between the public and private sectors to advance TVET and employment creation.
“We need to work together to accelerate the growth of youth employment in Nigeria. TVET has the potential to provide an alternate pathway for people to transition to employment, especially in industries such as construction, fashion, and manufacturing.”
He added that the programme was designed to address the issue of unemployment among young people, where millions of graduates are produced every year, but the white-collar job market cannot absorb all of them, adding that vocational skilling provides a viable solution to this problem.
