The Ekiti State Government has empowered 100 persons with disabilities PWDs with vocational skills and start-up tools to enable them establish businesses and become economically self-reliant.

The beneficiaries completed an eight-month vocational training programme organised through the state’s Skills Acquisition Centre in Ado-Ekiti.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Education and Social Inclusion, Princess Adetoun Agboola, said the initiative was designed to equip persons with disabilities with practical skills and the resources required to earn sustainable livelihoods.

She said the beneficiaries received training in areas including tailoring, catering, shoemaking, hairdressing, information and communication technology ICT, and soap-making.

Agboola said the programme combined classroom-based training with practical experience and apprenticeship placements with skilled artisans.

She explained that the empowerment component was aimed at ensuring that participants did not complete their training without the means to put their newly acquired skills into practice.

The beneficiaries received start-up equipment suited to their areas of specialisation, including sewing machines, fabrics, laptops, printers, shoemaking equipment, hairdressing tools, ovens, gas cookers and other materials.

Agboola said the state government had progressively increased the number of persons benefiting from the programme, following earlier training and empowerment exercises.

She said the initiative reflected the government’s commitment to promoting inclusion and enabling persons with disabilities to contribute meaningfully to the state’s economy.

The state government also encouraged parents and guardians to enrol children with special needs in its special schools and Government Therapy Centre, where education and therapy are provided.

The initiative is expected to strengthen the economic independence of the beneficiaries while promoting greater inclusion of persons with disabilities in the state.