By Helen Oji Abuja
President Defence and Police Offi cers Wives Association (DEPOWA), Mrs. Omobolanle Olonisakin, has urged the graduands of its skill acquisition centre to be productive for the benefi t of their families and the nation at large. She said this during the graduation ceremony of the third set of 44 trainees held at DEPOWA skill Acquisition Centre, Asokoro Abuja. Th e graduation ceremony was part DEPOWA week. Nineteen of the 44 graduands are widows. Mrs. Olonisakin said DEPOWA was focused on empowering Nigeria through similar contributions for human and national development. She urged the graduates to make
the most of this rare opportunity. According to her, if the 6 months of tedious theoretical and practical training are not puti n proper use, it basically amounts to waste of time and resources. She said: “Th e ability to graduate this third set of trainees is an assurance that we are consolidating on the right track, and on our records of developing women and indeed the less privileged in the society with particular emphasis on the widows of our fallen heroes.
“It is an assurance that we are on the path to empowering Nigeria, thereby contributing to human and national development.” A graduand of the centre, Mrs. Suleiman Halima skill, expressed pleasure for acquiring skills at the centre, which she said described “a dream come through.” She said the skills she had acquired would go a long way to enable her to be self-reliant. Since the inception of DEPOWA Skills Acquisition Centre, two batches of trainees have successfully graduated. Th e fi rst batch had twenty-six (26) trainees out of which fourteen (14) were widows. Th e second batch had 44 students of which 19 were widows.
