Bank Builds Skill Acquisition Centre for Ogun Inmates

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

A fully equipped vocational centre has been built and donated to the Borstal Training Institute (BTI), Abeokuta, Ogun State by Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc.

The facility is expected to empower inmates of the BTI. They would be taught various skills like carpentry, tailoring and ICT. This will make them financially independent after serving their term.

The vocational centre was built by the Finance Department of the lender as part of its Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiative.

The BTI facility at Abeokuta is one of the three borstals in Nigeria, serving the entire Southern part of the country. The other two are located in Kaduna and Kwara States.

The BTI is the Nigerian Correctional Service’s juvenile arm, set up to correct, train, reform, rehabilitate, and reintegrate young offenders.

According to the Comptroller of Corrections, Ogun State Command, Mr Mojeed Adeniran, the centre will help the skill development of the trainees, as correctional centres serve to correct and build the capacities of the inmates.

This was reaffirmed by the Executive Director, Prisoners’ Rights Advocacy Initiative, Mr Ahmed Adetola Kazeem, who said the facility will help transform the lives of young inmates at the facility, empowering them to be better citizens of the country while contributing their quota to the nation’s development.

Explaining the rationale behind this donation, the Head of Sustainability at Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Ms Omolola Fashesin, said, “At Stanbic IBTC, we pay strong attention to empowerment, being one of the pillars around which our CSI initiative revolves.

“We delight in seeing people succeed and advance financially, and we empower them to be able to make and act on economic decisions.”

“To achieve societal and economic empowerment, young people need the skills and resources to compete in markets, as well as fair and equal access to economic institutions. This is what we provide at Stanbic IBTC. It is the beginning of a cumulative process that will allow these young men to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to succeed,” she added.