Skills Development and Women Empowerment in Nigeria: An Imperative for Partnership and Economic Growth

Over the years there has been growing concern by governments, development partners and other stakeholders on the need to empower women to fight poverty and contribute meaningfully to the economic growth of their communities. In Nigeria, just as in other African countries, various policies have been established by government at national and state levels to facilitate the acquisition of skills by women to enable them become employable or in some cases, become entrepreneurs themselves. However, these policies do not seem to be making any appreciable impact as poverty, joblessness and other challenges that accompany such situations continue to spiral higher, especially among women. This paper seeks to evaluate the skills acquisition programmes in Nigeria and to understand why, in spite of the huge resources committed to skills acquisition, not much seem to have been gained from it. The paper also explores the level of cooperation or partnerships that exist between the government and other stakeholders to see how improving such partnerships could be the nexus that is required to turn the situation around and lift women and their communities out of poverty unto a path of self-reliance, economic growth and development.