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By Lukman Olabiyi
His Majesty, King Charles III of England, has revealed that the agenda of his initiative, Prince’s Trust International, a non-profit organisation, is to secure brighter future for Nigerian youths through employment.
King Charles III made this known in his message, which was read out at launching of Prince’s Trust International in Nigeria.
The initiative is specifically set up to tackle unemployment, bridge skills gap and enhance employability of Nigerian youths.
The Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ben Llewellyn-Jones and other high-profile functionaries, attended the launch, which took place at a reception in Lagos.
The monarch’s message read in part: “I am enormously inspired by the determination and commitment of young people, some of whom you will hear from later. They are change-makers; they will shape the world’s future and we must support them to realise their dreams.
“Looking ahead, I very much hope the important work of Prince’s Trust International and our partners can grow and help many more young people in Nigeria to build brighter futures.”
Speaking at the event, Llewellyn-Jones said the PTI’s launch in Nigeria would bridge the existing skills gap, giving more young people would have access to quality training that would make them more employable.
He said, “This is the launch of the Prince’s Trust International initiative in Nigeria to help train young people and get them ready for work to bridge the gap that we have with respect to youth unemployment and youth underemployment here in Nigeria.
“So, it is a really positive initiative. His Royal Highness is the President of the Prince’s Trust. The initiative is trying to reach more countries, Nigeria being the latest. The PTI is a charity. It is in line with the UK government’s ambition in Nigeria to help young people get jobs, get the proper training and the proper skills.
“It is about training. It depends on the kinds of roles young people want to take up. It is about providing them with modern workplace skills, modern workplace etiquette and the ways in which they can approach things, helping them with some of the softer skills and some of the harder skills as well.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Prince’s Trust International, Will Straw, said the initiative was billed to commence in the aftermath of King Charles’ visit to Nigeria in 2018 but was delayed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, in the last 18 months, the trust has been helping young people gain the skills they need for the world of work.
Straw said, “Prince’s Trust is nearly half a century old. King Charles founded it when he was the Prince of Wales in the UK in 1976. It has grown to be the largest charity in the UK, supporting a million people. In 2015, the King founded Prince’s Trust International with a mission to work with local partners around the world to tackle the youth unemployment crisis.
“In 2018, he visited Nigeria, and as we heard this evening, he asked government officials, he asked business leaders whether his trust could support employment efforts here in Nigeria and in Ghana. The answer was yes. The expertise that we have could help with local efforts. So, we began with the support of our Africa advisory board, which includes great business figures in Nigeria like Atedo Peterside and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede to explore how we can set this programme up.”
