The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has taken ownership of the FCT Adolescents and Young People (AYP) Technology Incubation Hub, a facility established to provide vulnerable young people with digital and life skills, public health information and HIV prevention education.
The Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) formally handed over the hub to the FCT Women Affairs Secretariat in Abuja.
Hajiya Asmau Mukhtar, Permanent Secretary of the ministry, said the facility would be used to support adolescents and young people across the FCT.
“Adolescence is a very sensitive stage in the lives of our children.
“It is a period where parents, guardians, institutions and society should be in one accord to ensure that our children become better versions of themselves as adults,” she said.
Mukhtar said the hub was designed to provide vulnerable young people with digital and life skills alongside public health and HIV prevention education.
She said officials of the secretariat had inspected the facility before the handover and that the government would manage it as a centre for youth development.
Mukhtar also said the FCT had dedicated a day to adolescent girls, describing the initiative as unique to the territory.
“We will continue to train not just one individual, but families, the community and society at large because the FCT Administration is interested in building manpower capacity across the FCT.
“With the formal transfer completed, the Women Affairs Secretariat will work closely with the IHVN team to oversee operations, secure ongoing government funding and scale up outreach to vulnerable youth and their caregivers across the FCT.
“This will strengthen opportunities for digital skills, life skills, HIV prevention education and social support for adolescents and young people across the FCT,” she said.
Dr Helen Onuh, Director of Prevention, Care and Treatment at IHVN, said the transfer of ownership to the government was intended to sustain the hub beyond the period of donor funding.
The AYP Hub was inaugurated on Oct. 9, 2024 and had been managed by IHVN since then, she said.
Onuh said the hub was established and funded by the United States Government through the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
She said donor-funded programmes operate within defined funding periods, making government ownership important for the continued operation of the facility.
“The center had so far trained and graduated about 75 individuals, with 50 adolescents currently receiving six months of post-graduation support,” Onuh said.
