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Chief Sarah Dagah Advocates Skills-to-Livelihood Support, Receives Award at Jos Summit
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De Sele of Jos, Chief Mrs Sarah Dagah, has called for greater investment in mentorship, financing, market access and other support systems to help young people turn acquired skills into sustainable livelihoods.
Dagah, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and mentor, made the call while presenting a paper titled “Skills Acquisition: Unlocking Opportunities for Young People” at the Jos Summit and Award Night, organised by the One Plateau Unity Forum at the Millennium International Event Centre, Jos.
She argued that skills acquisition, while important, cannot by itself solve the challenge of youth unemployment unless young people are also connected to the resources and opportunities required to put their skills to productive use.
According to her, the process should be viewed as an “opportunity chain” that moves from skills acquisition and practice to mentorship, access to finance, markets, business growth and ultimately employment.
“What happens to talent when opportunity is blocked? What happens to that young woman who cannot afford a sewing machine? And what happens to that young man who has acquired technical skills but has no tools with which to work?”
Dagah noted that the challenge cuts across different sectors of the economy, pointing to farmers who struggle to find profitable markets for their produce and entrepreneurs who have quality products but lack the financing and market reach needed to grow their businesses.
She urged stakeholders to pay closer attention to what happens after training, stressing that practical experience, mentorship, tools, financing and access to customers are critical to transforming skills into productive ventures.
However, she also emphasised the importance of personal responsibility, noting that support programmes can have limited impact when beneficiaries are unwilling to apply themselves or make effective use of the opportunities provided.
Reflecting on her work through the Sarah Dagah Foundation, she disclosed that some beneficiaries had received resources and support but failed to maximise them.
Rather than allowing such experiences to discourage further interventions, Dagah encouraged young people to take greater responsibility for their personal and economic development.
“My call today to Plateau youth and to the women is: be self-sufficient. Develop yourself. That is what I call capital development.”
She further called on successful young people to mentor others and become positive examples within their communities, saying visible success could inspire more youths to pursue productive and sustainable paths.
“The one person that is doing well or that has done well, may they continue to do well and identify others to do well, because if they do well and people see them doing well, the other youths will also be encouraged and determined to do better.”
Dagah stressed that the ultimate goal should be to ensure that skills do not end with certificates or training, but translate into productivity, entrepreneurship, economic independence and job creation.
She urged Plateau youths to combine their talents with discipline, willingness to learn, persistence and a strong commitment to building sustainable livelihoods.
At the event, Chief Mrs Sarah Dagah was also honoured with an award in recognition of her contributions and impact in entrepreneurship, philanthropy, mentorship and youth development.
Nigeria’s first confirmed Ebola patient in more than a decade is believed to have contracted the virus while travelling in Uganda, although health authorities are yet to establish the source of her infection.
According to a report by Reuters, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs told the newspaper in an emailed statement on Thursday that the patient, a Ugandan-born woman married to a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, has been receiving treatment at a private clinic in the Nigerian capital for about a week.
According to Reuters, the statement said the woman was believed to have contracted the virus during a visit to Uganda about two weeks earlier. Her husband, who travelled with her, is in isolation but has not developed symptoms.
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said they had not received verified information that the woman travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the current Ebola outbreak began.
Conflicting travel accounts
According to Reuters, Ugandan authorities had earlier said the woman travelled to eastern DRC before transiting through Uganda.
However, Africa CDC official Wessam Mankoula said on Thursday that there was no validated information confirming that the patient had travelled to the DRC.
Mr Mankoula said Nigeria and Uganda were exchanging information to reconstruct her travel history and identify the possible source of infection.
WHO representative to Nigeria Pavel Ursu said the information received by the agency indicated that the woman had been in Uganda from 16 September and returned to Abuja on 3 October.
The WHO official said the information available to the agency did not establish that she had travelled outside Uganda.
Patrick Otim, a WHO emergency response manager, also said the source of the infection remained unknown as investigators worked to establish the patient’s movements before she became ill.
One area of investigation is the health facilities the woman visited in Abuja after developing symptoms and before she was hospitalised, including the possibility of exposure to other people during that period, he said.
Meanwhile, the Ugandan government said that the country had no active Ebola cases.
Uganda recorded 20 Ebola cases between May and June, most of them linked to infections imported from the DRC. The WHO declared the country’s outbreak over in August after 42 days without a new confirmed case.
Nigeria’s response
The uncertainty surrounding the woman’s travel history comes as Nigeria works to prevent further transmission following confirmation of the imported infection on 20 October.
As PREMIUM TIMES reported, the patient is a 42-year-old woman who lives in Abuja and recently travelled to Uganda. She developed symptoms on 6 October, three days after returning to Nigeria, and initially sought treatment at a private hospital, believing she had malaria.
She later visited another private hospital, where she was admitted on 11 October after her condition failed to improve. Her infection was subsequently confirmed through laboratory testing.
PREMIUM TIMES also reported that health authorities had identified 44 people who might have been exposed to the patient, including healthcare workers, patients, caregivers and travel contacts.
The government has begun contact tracing and is working with international partners to establish the woman’s movements and identify anyone who may have been exposed.
The WHO has urged Nigerians to remain calm, explaining that one confirmed imported case does not, by itself, mean the country is experiencing an Ebola ‘outbreak’. The agency is supporting Nigeria with case investigation, laboratory testing, contact tracing and infection prevention measures.
Regional outbreak
Nigeria’s case comes amid an Ebola outbreak that was declared in the DRC in May and has spread to other African countries, raising concerns about cross-border transmission.
The outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a species of Ebola virus for which there is currently no licensed vaccine.
Kenya has also reported cases linked to the movement of the virus across borders, adding to concerns about the challenges of tracing infections among international travellers.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of an infected person, or with contaminated materials. Symptoms may include fever, headache, weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea.
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Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said nobody is afraid of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate, Peter Obi, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Umahi made this statement on Friday while fielding questions in an exclusive interview on Arise Television.
He said that Obi posed no threat to President Bola Tinubu and that his influence was just artificial intelligence politics.
"Nobody is afraid of Peter Obi, he is no threat to Tinubu," Umahi said.
The ex-Ebonyi State governor stated that Obi failed to consult South East leaders before his presidential bid, arguing the region has other qualified political figures.
Umahi also dismissed claims that Obi should automatically be seen as the strongest presidential candidate from the South East because of his performance in the last election.
According to him, the South East has other qualified politicians who can also contest for the presidency.
He said becoming president required negotiation and working with other regions, not just relying on support from one region.
Nobody is afraid of Peter Obi, he’s no threat to Tinubu – Umahi blows hot
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