By ALEX ENEBELI

Methodist Church, Enugu Diocese, has pledged to support over 200 of its members who are currently undergoing different entrepreneurship skills acquisition programmes in Enugu.

The Archbishop of the Diocese, Most Rev. Christopher Edeh, made the pledge during the training of the members on Saturday in Enugu at the Potters Wheel Foundation (PWF), located at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium.

PWF is a Non-Governmental, Community-Based Humanitarian Organisation that offers free vocational and entrepreneurial training to youths and women in Nigeria as an antidote to the massive Unemployment, Crime and Insecurity in the country.

Edeh said the church was organising its National Conference Programme and decided to use the opportunity to empower members in Enugu as a means to create jobs for them and reduce unemployment.

Speaking to them at the PWF, the clergyman said, “The church has approved to support the beneficiaries with materials which they will use to better their lives after training.

“Therefore, I urge you all to listen attentively and know that the church will support you,” Edeh assured them.

He, however, thanked the President of PWF, Mr Godson Onuzulike, for the opportunity given to the church to train members on vocational skills free of charge, saying that, “The church will remain grateful to the foundation.”

Responding, Onuzulike said the foundation had engaged severally in training youths and women on various free entrepreneurial skills aimed at solving the challenge of unemployment which had led many youths to engage in crime and other vices in the country.

He said that the participants would be trained on how to make Cakes, Meat Pie and other Pie Families, Doughnut, Samosa, Spring Roll, Chin-Chin and Peanut.

The President said, “Aside this 200 trainees, we have trained over 4,000 people free of charge since we started in 2020 through partnership with the Enugu Ministry of Youths and Sports who were now entrepreneurs themselves and we are targeting to train 8,500 more.

“We equally do training on Scotch Egg, Bread, Cookies, Alcohol Based Hand Sanitizers, Antibacterial Hand wash, Car Wash and Liquid Soap.

“Others are body wash, tile wash, toilet wash, insecticide, rodenticide, carrot oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, laundry tablet soap, bleach, detergent, antiseptics, disinfectants, odour control, organic soap, organic cream and many others.

“We discovered that vacuum and decided to bridge the gap by training youths and women on how to do the production, packaging and marketing so that they can individually go into the market and become their own bosses,” he said.

A beneficiary, Mr Chinecherem Okeke, said he had gained a lot of experience from the training, stressing that, “Based on few weeks we have stayed here, my life has changed.

“We have been trained on both digital and skill aspect and I can now boast of doing so many things,” he said.

He lauded the church and the foundation for organising the programme for them.

Mrs Ezenwugo Ebere, another beneficiary, expressed satisfaction over the training, saying she can now do a lot of things she thought was difficult before. (NAN)

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