•Called for women’s inclusive
By Henry Ubus
UDU – Determined to key into the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Governor Sheriff Oborevwori’s Renew Hope for M.O.R.E Agenda, the President of Udu Union in the United Kingdom, Olorogun Ovo Agbodje, has trained fifty-five (55) Urhobo youths in Solar Panel and Inverter Installation.
According to him, the two-week intensive training programme on Solar Panel and Inverter Installation at ASTEVEN Energy Institute, Warri was targeted at unemployed young men and women, designed to equip the participants with hands-on technical and entrepreneurial skills in renewable energy.
Speaking further on the empowerment initiative, Chief Agbodje emphasized the importance of women’s inclusion in development programmes, noting that although the number of female participants was small, he insisted that women must be part of the training.
His words: “The easiest way to create wealth in any community is to empower the mothers or the women of that community.
“Today the beneficiaries are now certified and ready to either gain employment or establish their own solar businesses within their communities”.
According to him, the initiative is part of a determination to ameliorate the suffering of Ukuama people who were rendered homeless by the Nigerian Army, as ten young men and women of the community were specifically chosen to participate in the programme.
This thoughtful gesture, according to Chief Agbodje, reflects his belief that Urhobo must support its people against all forms of oppression.
Meanwhile, Engr. Osaya Emmanuel, one of the instructors at ASTEVEN Energy Institute, during the sign-out commended the impressive progress made by the trainees, describing their transformation from novices to confident, adding that the skilled individuals are now ready for the renewable energy market.
“Over this period, the students have learned how to install, maintain, troubleshoot, and design solar power systems.
“Beyond the technical aspects, we also trained them on marketing strategies because it is one thing to acquire knowledge and another to know how to market yourself and make a living from it.”
He praised the Agbodje Foundation for its consistent commitment to human capital development.
“On behalf of my company, I sincerely appreciate the Agbodje Foundation for having the youths at heart—bringing them out of the streets and giving them a profitable and hard-to-come-by skill. These young people are now fully equipped with practical knowledge of solar technology and are ready to compete favorably in the industry,” he added.
Responding, the beneficiaries commended Olorogun Ovo Agbodje for his vision for the youth’s empowerment, noting that the program has taken them from the labour market to becoming self-employed individuals capable of installing, maintaining, and troubleshooting solar systems.
According to them, Chief Agbodje’s initiative underscores his passion for education, innovation, and youth development towards building a self-reliant and economically empowered Urhobo society.
They called on other Urhobo sons and daughters to emulate Chief Agbodje’s selfless efforts toward community empowerment and development.
It would be recalled that Chief Agbodje, through his foundation, last year donated six chessboards, three each to Ovwian Secondary School and Ovwian Primary School, and established Chess and Book Clubs in both schools.
