Plans are in top gear for the commencement of the second edition of the youth empowerment cum media technology training, organised by Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church (OLPH), Victoria Island, Lagos in collaboration with the Directorate of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos. Making the announcement in a recent chat, Very Rev. Fr. Anthony Godonu, Parish Priest, OLPH and Director of Social Communications disclosed that the exercise, with the maiden programme held earlier this year, was started in order to empower the youths in the Archdiocese.
According to the Director, the first edition which held from March to May had about 70 applicants enroll for the programme, but because of logistics and transportation issues, some did not meet up and they (Organisers) ended up graduating and certifying about 30 students who excelled in different aspects of media and tech training, ranging from live streaming, video mixing, video editing and Artificial Intelligence (AI). He disclosed that they have a progress report from a number of the graduants who have been able to use their certificates to get employment in corporate entities.
He said: “The parish single-handedly sponsored this training, but, since it is something we want to be doing at least twice a year, we are looking forward to partnership with parishioners, individuals and cooperate organisations that will come and collaborate with the parish and the Directorate, in order to be able to empower our youths and take them off the street, from crime and all those vices that could take away their lives and also cause nuisance to our society. According to the priest, the next training will come up between September and November, 2024 adding that that is the projection so that they will be able to hold another training and empower more youths in media technology.
Some of the beneficiaries who have been gainfully employed express their gratitude to the orgainisers and facilitators. Kelvin Abah, employed by a tech company thanked the organisers, stating that he gained a lot in the AI course. “We were taught about LLMs, but I went further to develop models such as one that can give the total cost of building a house”, he said. Philip Akaka said at first, it was not easy because of divided attention, but now, he is happy for the knowledge he got from the programme. Esther Obiora said she used to be shy and had confidence issues, but after the training, she is confident with the camera and audience. Andra Unyimadu said she learnt lots of new things which has helped her in her work, including ability to create content for her meetings.
