Development Impact for Nigeria is seeking UK-based Nigerians to support their skills training initiatives, says Yomi Oloko.

Development Impact for Nigeria is seeking UK-based Nigerians to support their skills training initiatives, says Yomi Oloko

Development Impact for Nigeria [DIFN] was created in 2000 by a small group of UK-based Nigerian professionals who wanted to find a way of using their skills in Nigeria.

Initially we were involved in a range of areas including HIV/AIDS awareness and preventative training to church and other faith groups, schools and community based organisations, health education in primary schools with the Child to child school programme, as well as youth work.

The HIV/AIDS work was in Lagos and other parts of the country while the school based health education and youth work was mainly in Ipaja, a low income part of Lagos suburb. This eventually led to DIFN helping to establish Ipaja Community Link [ICL]

ICL now focuses on helping local orphans and vulnerable young people to access universal basic education and primary health care while supporting their parents. It also adds value to Universal Basic Education by teacher training and creating nursery playgrounds and providing vocational skills and enterprise training youths, women and other vulnerable groups as well as encouraging the establishment of locally run social enterprises.

In mid 2009 DIFN was awarded a grant by Department for International Development and VSO to run our Diaspora volunteer scheme.

The Diaspora volunteer scheme involved taking professionals of mainly Nigerian heritage to Nigeria on short 3 to 4 week placements. These placements included:

Throughout 2010 to June 2011, DIFN held four placements, taking a total of 28 volunteers.

DIFN's new programme Skills for Life Initiative is a follow-on from our previously funded Diaspora Volunteer scheme where some of the volunteers were involved in skills training.

DIFN's Skills for Life Initiative offers a joined up approach to poverty reduction by providing Skills Training, Entrepreneurship / Business Start Up Training and the provision of micro loans, equipment grants and low cost work space.

The skills that we are focused on include: Cloth Making & Sewing, Hat and Bag Making, Bead & Wire Jewellery Making, Pasty / Cake Making & Cake Decoration, Hair Dressing & Beauty Therapy, Natural Soap & Cosmetics Production, Early Years Education / Play Work, ICT/ Web & Graphic Design, Music Production and Photography & Video/Film Production

The main strategy of the Skills for Life Initiative will be to develop a team of both local and Diaspora skills trainers and business support practitioners who will work with selected community development groups and local government council vocational centres.

The team will provide intensive skills training to each group or local government council providing both skills training and business support training and work with these groups to support them to set up viable micro, small or community based businesses.

DIFN will also be working with a small number of selected micro loan institutions to distribute funds to some of the community groups we work with.

DIFN already has a track record in Nigeria of providing skills training programmes and we are now actively seeking members of the UK based Nigeria community to be financial partners with us to expand our programmes and make them more sustainable.

Our donation targets are as follows:

£250 – funds an intensive 10 Day skills training workshop for a minimum of 20 participants, plus a 3 Day Entrepreneurship/Small Business Start Up workshop.

A further £500 – funds the giving of a collective low interest small business start up loan [to be repaid back over 2 to 3 years] for the establishment of a community business venture. DIFN will monitor the business over the period of the loan repayment period.

£1500 – funds [for 2 years] the renting of work space hub for craft persons to use on a monthly rent basis. The work space hub will also have equipment that can be collectively used at a low lease. Profits will be ploughed back so as to sustain payment of rent for the following years.

£2500 – funds the establishment of a community based skills training centre providing quality low cost training to the community. Each centre will focus on 3 to 4 skills areas. The fees will be ploughed back into the centre to make it a sustainable venture.