NDE launches new job creation programme, lists achievements
By Medeton Gangbe Jimoh
AS part of its efforts to create jobs for youths, the Federal Government through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), yesterday in Lagos held an orientation programme for participants in its skill acquisition scheme.
Speaking at the occasion, NDE Director-General Dr. S.O. Adelodun, who was represented Mrs. Olubunmi Ojo, noted that the directorate since it inception has been the flagship in the war against unemployment.
Adelodun re-affirmed that NDE intervenes in the Nigerian unemployment landscape principally through the training and imparting of vocational skills on unemployed persons. Many beneficiaries of NDE training programmes have today grown into medium and large-scale producers, employing many other unemployed youths.
She said the directorate has put in place another mechanism to ensure that successful beneficiaries are adequately rewarded. According to her, the directorate has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Nigerian Agricultural Co-operative and Rural Development Bank (NACRDB) to grant loans to trainees to enable them set up their own businesses.
Besides, she added that a resettlement scheme, under which a number of NDE trainees will be re-settled with materials and equipment for their own businesses had been concluded.
Under the scheme, the 36 states of the federation and Abuja will have 2,000 beneficiaries each.
Under the Vocational Skills' Development Programme, 1,000 National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (NOAS) trainees as well as 50 trainees under the school-on-wheels scheme would be recruited. Fifty persons each will be recruited under the Environment Beautification Scheme (EBS) and the National Sanitation Employment Scheme (NSES), while 25 trainees will be trained under the professional Pupilage Scheme.
The Rural Employment Promotion Programme will train about 150 people under the Rural Agricultural Development and Training Scheme (RADIS) and another 150 will be tutored under the Rural Off-farm Programme.
In the Small Scale Enterprises Programme, 200 graduates are to be trained to enable them begin their own businesses, among other.
