A vision conceived more than five years ago has become a reality with the launch of Project Centum, a five-year youth empowerment initiative designed to equip 100 young Nigerians annually with vocational and entrepreneurial skills.
The South-West pilot was launched at Discovery Empowerment House in Abeokuta, Ogun State, with the first three trainees, their parents, trainers and project partners in attendance.
Founded by Wale Fakile, founder of Rach. Gabriels Fashion Company, and overseen by Propagar Media Limited, Project Centum will provide training in vocational skills, entrepreneurship, digital literacy, mentorship and market access.
The initiative is starting with shoemaking through the Rach. Gabriels production system, with plans to adapt the model to other vocational sectors, including fashion, woodwork and other skilled trades.
The six-month programme combines hands-on training with business and digital skills, mentorship and access to markets. At the end of the programme, trainees will also be introduced to collective purchasing structures designed to improve access to production materials and reduce costs.
The first cohort marks the beginning of a five-year plan to directly empower 500 young Nigerians across the country.
Project Centum is structured around regional partnerships, with the Tobby Emmanuel Foundation serving the South-West, SiediHub the South-East, Hope Interactive the North and Value360 Empowerment Initiative the South-South, while Propagar provides central oversight.
Fakile described the launch as the fulfilment of a vision that had survived years of uncertainty.
‘We dreamt. We faltered. We dreamt again. And we are here. Project Centum started more than five years ago as an idea I scribbled on a notepad. There were times I wondered if it would ever happen. So seeing our first three trainees begin this journey today is deeply personal for me,’ he said.
He added: ‘We are starting with three, but I don’t see three. I see the 500 young people we want to empower over the next five years. I see the businesses they can build, the people they can employ and the lives that can change when young people are given the skills and opportunity to build for themselves.’
According to Fakile, shoemaking is only the starting point of a broader vision to create a replicable empowerment model.
‘Shoemaking is our starting point, not our destination. The bigger vision is to create a model that connects vocational training with mentorship, digital skills, markets and access to resources and then make that model available to other industries and communities,’ he said.
Project Manager, Stephanie Nneoma Nwache, said the launch demonstrated what could be achieved when a vision was matched with commitment and execution.
‘A vision can live on paper for years, but at some point someone has to decide to build it. Project Centum became real because we kept moving, developing the structure, bringing the right people together and finding a way to make the first cohort happen,’ she said.
Nwache added that the objective was to ensure the trainees left the programme with more than certificates.
‘They should leave with a skill, the confidence to use it, the knowledge to build a business and the connections to find a market for what they produce,’ she said.
Founder of the Tobby Emmanuel Foundation, Tobby Emmanuel, said the partnership reflected a shared commitment to practical and sustainable empowerment.
‘Empowerment has to go beyond giving people something today. It should give them the capacity to create value for themselves tomorrow,’ he said.
Emmanuel added that the foundation was proud to provide the infrastructure for the first cohort and participate in what he described as the first step of a potentially larger national initiative.
Project Centum will begin with its South-West pilot before progressively expanding to other regions, with the goal of training 100 young Nigerians every year for five years.