BTOSAT Empowers Ondo Youths With Skills, Business Opportunities

The Bunmi Tunji-Ojo Skill Acquisition and Training (BTOSAT) programme is helping youths in Ondo State turn vocational skills into products, contracts and business opportunities.

The development emerged at the 11th BTOSAT Business Development Meeting, where beneficiaries displayed products made during their training and shared how the programme had opened new opportunities for them.

Supported by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the programme draws participants from communities reached through the Ondo Community Connect (OCC) initiative for vocational training and business development.

Speaking at the meeting, OCC State Coordinator, Iretidola Akinrowo Ojekhoa, said the focus was to ensure that training translated into practical economic opportunities.

“We are not just interested in saying we have trained 53 people. We want to see what happens after the training,” Ojekhoa said.

More than 100 people registered for the programme, while 53 participants from six groups completed their training.

The groups were trained in solar and inverter installation, shoemaking and leatherwork, bar soap and detergent production, perfumery, air freshener production, liquid soap and Super Wash production.

Ojekhoa disclosed that some beneficiaries had already secured contracts and were becoming partners in delivering projects linked to OCC.

“We are trying to create a system where people are trained, they practise what they have learnt and then they get opportunities to earn from it,” she explained.

She cited the shoemaking and leatherwork group as an example, noting that the beneficiaries produced school bags which were distributed free to schoolchildren at the beginning of a new academic term.

According to her, the project demonstrated how vocational skills could be applied to meet real community needs.

“We want the beneficiaries to be able to stand on their own. The ultimate goal is for them to use the skills, get contracts, produce and also train other people,” Ojekhoa added.

The latest meeting followed two weeks of intensive market surveys and branding exercises, giving beneficiaries an opportunity to test their products, assess market responses and identify areas for improvement.

The Solar and Inverter Installation team presented updates on ongoing field contracts, while the Shoemaking and Leatherworks group showcased bags and shoes that OCC has continued to off-take.

Teams involved in perfumery, bar soaps, liquid soaps, disinfectant washes, body creams and oils, and detergents also reported growing internal patronage and positive feedback from users.

The session also provided an opportunity for Ojekhoa to share practical lessons on business development, branding and sustainability.

She announced that the Passing Out and Exhibition Ceremony for the current cohort would take place in November, ahead of preparations for a new intake next year.

Ojekhoa further disclosed that arrangements were underway to fully equip the beneficiaries’ production houses and offices, with additional efforts being made to ensure that the platform remains sustainable and can be replicated across Ondo State and Nigeria.

The skills programme complements OCC’s wider community interventions by creating opportunities for trained residents to contribute to projects identified through community assessments.

OCC is targeting all 203 wards across Ondo State’s 18 local government areas. About 800 communities had registered, while 110 had been assessed and 74 interventions undertaken at the time of the meeting.

The interventions include solar streetlights, road rehabilitation, drainage and water projects, as well as support for public institutions.

Ojekhoa said BTOSAT beneficiaries living in communities that had benefited from OCC’s infrastructure projects had also expressed appreciation to Tunji-Ojo for the programme and his commitment to youth empowerment and community development.

For the trainees, the programme has provided an opportunity to apply their skills to actual production.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Oluwaseyi Afolabi, a member of the Shoemaking and Leatherwork group, revealed that the team had secured contracts to produce school bags and shoes.

“We made school bags and shoes, and the school bags were given to schoolchildren. Seeing the children receive something we produced ourselves showed us that the skills we learnt could actually help people,” he said.

Afolabi added that the group received a generator and an industrial machine to strengthen its production capacity.

Another beneficiary, Akinmolayan Olasinbo, from Idanre and resident in Akure North, described his training in perfumery as an opportunity to acquire a skill he could practise independently.

“I can now produce perfume myself, and I can also teach somebody else what I have learnt. Before the BTOSAT training, I did not have this level of knowledge,” Olasinbo said.

Michael Moses Abiodun of Mercy Land recalled that he initially doubted the programme but changed his mind after experiencing the training.

“I was initially thinking it could be a scam, but when we started the training, I realised it was real. We were taught practically and encouraged to use what we learnt,” he recalled.

Another beneficiary, Abimbola Akinbinu, said the training had enabled her to produce bar soap, detergent, perfume, liquid soap and air freshener without supervision.

The school-bag project provides a direct example of how the training can translate into community benefit, with products made by beneficiaries reaching schoolchildren at the start of a new academic term.

The approach forms part of OCC’s broader intervention strategy, which identifies community priorities through physical assessments and considers factors such as impact, urgency, cost-effectiveness and speed of delivery.