In the spirit of Christmas and New Year celebration, the Sapphire Foundation has distributed food and other gift items to over 1,000 residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including widows, children, senior citizens and youth; in order to have a memorable yuletide.
Addressing journalists at the event held Saturday at its office in Mabushi Ultra Modern Market, Abuja, the CEO of Sapphire Foundation (Nigeria), Jasmine Cannon-Ikurusi Wigodo, said that the Foundation has been in the business of providing free vocational training to FCT residents; in order to reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria.
She said: “The Sapphire Foundation was founded in the UK in 2015. However, we established the Abuja office in February last year; in order to help curb unemployment in Nigeria by providing free vocational skills to FCT residents, especially the less privileged. In our academy, we accept FCT residents between the ages of 5 to 30 years and teach them different vocational skills free of charge.
“Many have acquired skills on hairdressing, dancing, ICT, among others. We also do extra mural lessons for students on different science and art subjects; in order to improve their academic performance. Everything we do here is free. We presently have over 500 students enrolled in our academy. Some graduated in June this year and we empowered them with equipment to set up on their own. Our tutors are monitoring their progress for evaluation and the beneficiaries are free to come back to us whenever they need help.
“In the spirit of Christmas, we decided to gather widows, children, disabled people and different FCT residents to come and celebrate with us, especially the less privileged, who don’t have idea of where to go or what to do this yuletide. We gave out food items and other gifts to over 1,000 less privileged people in the FCT, including widows, senior citizens, the disabled, women, youth, street children and what have you. Though we have many programmes, we usually face financial constraints in executing our plans. Hopefully, we will get partnership from public spirited individuals to continue putting smiles on the faces of FCT residents.”
Also speaking, the Community Centre Manager of Sapphire Foundation, Blessing Ocholi, reiterated that the Foundation has laudable projects to take children off the streets and make residents gainfully employed, but pleaded for sponsorship from government and public spirited individuals to achieve its objectives.
“The rate of unemployment is so high in Nigeria, hence the intervention by Sapphire Foundation in making people gainfully employed by incorporating different vocational programmes in the academy. However, we cannot do it alone, hence we are pleading with government and public spirited individuals to partner with us to achieve our objectives. These children are really talented and deserve all the sponsorship they can get in any venture they undertake,” she said.
