The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Bauchi State Office, is to partner with the Nigerian Prisons Service, NPS, to train staff and inmates in the state on vocational skills.
The State Controller of the Ministry, Taddy Yusuf, made this known in a statement released by the Public Relations Officer of the NPS, Bauchi Command, Abubakar Algwallari, on Friday.
Mr Yusuf, who was on a courtesy visit to the Controller of Prisons, Bauchi State Command, Sulaiman Sulaiman, said the ministry offered various skill acquisition programmes which include: building, carpentry, computer operations, electrical installation, motor vehicle mechanic and welding.
He said that others include: satellite dish installation, pipe fitting and plumbing, tailoring and dressmaking as well as catering and hotel management.
Mr Yusuf said inmates stood a better chance of gaining a lot after undergoing courses of their choice.
He said that the ministry’s certificate of completion was recognised everywhere.
Responding, Mr Sulaiman thanked the controller of the labour ministry for the visit and assured him of the readiness of the NPS to make good use of the opportunity for the benefit of inmates.
He said that after the training, the beneficiaries would be provided with equipment with which they practise the various skills that they had learnt.
The prisons controller said inmates to participate in the training would be those convicted not awaiting trial and were almost completing their jail terms.
According to him, the gesture would be conducted under the Nigeria Prison Service AfterCare Unit in the state.
He recalled that about 35 inmates were trained by the ministry in 2016, and that the programme was sponsored by the wife of the Bauchi State Governor, Aisha Abubakar.
The controller called on Non-Governmental Organisations, NGOs, and philanthropists to assist the inmates to acquire vocational skills in order to become useful members of the society after their discharge from prisons.
NAN
