NO less than 50 women  from the culture sector are participating in the ongoing   2^nd edition of the Association of Women In Culture Arts and Music Industry (AWICAMI) skills’ acquisition programme in Lagos.

Mrs Bridgette Yerima, the President of the association disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

“This year’s skill acquisition focuses on how women can tie “gele’’ (head gear), make hair accessories and bags using Ankara materials and applying make-ups correctly,” Yerima said.

According to her, the aim of the association is to empower women in the culture sector with the aim of harnessing the country’s untapped cultural resources for national development.

“This programme will go a long way in alleviating poverty as it will complement the efforts of the government toward empowerment of the people.

“Empowering women within the culture sector will also help in creating job opportunities and independence for women.

“This will also create a professional environment for women to operate among themselves,” she said.

The president said that the 2017  programme focused on  tie-and-dye “adire’’ making, bead-making and the making of shoes with Ankara material.

“Two of our members who acquired some skills from our maiden  programme have started to  package some of their products for export.

“That is the essence of the workshop; to ensure that some of the participants learn skills that they can use to make money,” she said.

Mrs Victoria Agodo, the Pioneer Executive Secretary, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO, commended the association’s efforts at encouraging women  in the promotion of culture and music.

Agodo said that skill acquisition was one of the objectives of the Federal Government in empowering women to take up entrepreneurial roles and reduce  poverty in the country.

“There is so much dependence on the government for our livelihood whereas, developing your abilities in a skill can make you an employer of labour.

“The more skills a woman has the better the society will become because women are the building blocks which will help to sharpen the society,” she said.

Mrs Philomena Obasogie, the Public Relations Officer, National Gallery said that she was elated to be a participant at the programme.

She said that she was sure that the knowledge that she would gain from there would be another means of earning extra income.

Obasogie said that the programme was a welcome innovation at a time that the white-collar jobs were increasingly becoming unavailable for fresh graduates.

Mrs Funmi Okoya, a Principal Administrative Officer with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that the organisers of the event should give subsequent ones more publicity.

“With adequate publicity and awareness, more women will get to know about the programme , as well as improve their contributions to  the society,” Okoya said. (NAN)

– Aug. 28, 2018 @ 17:15 GMT |