NASENI Trains 100 Onitsha Youths in Electrical Installation, Hands Out Solar Kits

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has concluded a five-day training in modern methods of electrical installation and maintenance for 100 youths in Onitsha, Anambra State, equipping beneficiaries with practical skills and complete starter packs of electrical tools and equipment.

The skills acquisition programme was executed under the NASENI Sustainable Empowerment Programme (NSEP), part of the agency's broader, nationwide rollout of similar interventions across the country. Beyond the electrical training itself, beneficiaries also received a range of complementary empowerment items designed to improve household living conditions and support small business activity.

Speaking at the closing ceremony on Friday, NASENI's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Khalil Halilu, explained that the programme is built around three core empowerment items: the NASENI Solar Home System, NASENI Clean Cookstoves, and the NASENI Support Pack. "This programme is founded on a simple but important conviction of science, technology and innovation, which must produce tangible improvements in the everyday life of Nigerians," Halilu said.

According to Halilu, the NASENI Solar Home System would provide beneficiaries with access to reliable renewable energy for lighting, charging essential devices, and supporting general household activities. Beyond improving daily living conditions, he explained that the system could also help small businesses extend their operating hours, while reducing dependence on expensive and unreliable conventional energy sources. On the clean cookstoves, Halilu said they offer a safer, cleaner, and more efficient means of cooking, designed specifically to reduce fuel consumption, lower household expenses, and minimise exposure to harmful smoke. The accompanying NASENI Support Pack, he added, was meant to provide additional relief and strengthen beneficiaries' capacity to meet immediate household needs.

Also speaking at the event, the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, described the Federal Government's initiative under President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda as impressive, saying the gesture would go a long way toward keeping jobless youths off the streets across the country. He urged both federal and state governments to do more to salvage the country from its teeming population of unemployed youths and to reduce the poverty and hunger affecting many families and communities.

Commissioner for Youth and Sports Development in Anambra State, Mr Patrick Aghamba, commended the Federal Government for its policies and programmes, particularly the empowerment schemes under the Renewed Hope Agenda. He noted that the federal training programme aligned closely with the state government's own "One Youth, Two Skills" initiative, which he said had already helped empower more than 10,000 beneficiaries across Anambra State. Aghamba urged the newly trained beneficiaries to make maximum use of the experience gained during the training, along with the equipment provided to them.

The Coordinator of the Onitsha Advancement Foundation, Dr Rita Melifonwu, explained that the programme had drawn well over 100 applicants after being advertised, with interviews subsequently conducted to narrow the pool down to the final 100 selected participants. According to Melifonwu, 56 of the participants were already practising electricians, while 27 were students studying electrical engineering across various tertiary institutions. She added that the cohort included five women, all indigenes of the area, while 17 of the total participants were non-indigenes of Onitsha, reflecting a broadly inclusive selection process.

Several of the participants who spoke after the ceremony expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for the initiative, pledging to properly deploy the tools and equipment they received to their fullest benefit. They described the training, alongside the accompanying tools and equipment, as tangible evidence that the Federal Government's empowerment commitments were being followed through on the ground.

According to the report, a similar training exercise was conducted simultaneously in Onitsha North and in Abatete, within Idemili Local Government Area of Anambra State, indicating that the Onitsha rollout formed part of a wider, multi-location deployment of the NSEP programme within the state during the same period.