FIC Report (Delta State) – As part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, GCFR, aimed at empowering over 93,000 Nigerians across the nation through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), skill acquisition has been organised for participants in Delta State with with 1,930 participants benefiting.
The skill acquisition training and empowerment which is a nationwide programme was organised under the Renewed Hope Empowerment Initiative of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu GCFR, was held in Asaba the State capital.
Declaring the programme open, the Director General, NDE H.E. Silas Ali Agara, represented by the NDE South-South Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Jinanwa Chukwuma, stated that the core mandate for the establishment of NDE was to address the unemployment challenge in the country. He noted that NDE has been carrying out its responsibilities in that regard through sensitisation, counseling and re-orientating the minds of unemployed youths to redirect their search for non-existing white collar jobs by making themselves gainfully employed through skill acquisition trainings and empowerment initiative programmes.
The NDE DG said that the Renewed Hope Employment Initiatve was part of President Tinubu’s modest short term efforts at addressing the scourge of unemployment challenge in Nigeria.
According to the DG, Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Employment Initiative has been designed to engage a total of 93,731 unskilled and unemployed persons across 30 skills covering four core areas namely; Vocational Skills Development, Small Scale Enterprise, Rural Employment Promotion and Special Public Works. He added that selected participants were drawn school leavers, school dropouts, women, unemployed graduates of tertiary institutions, retirees and persons with special needs among others.
The DG also stated that beneficiaries of this programme would be resettled in different productive entrepreneurial fields through the provision of tools, equipment and start-up capital. He also disclosed that NDE under his watch, would ensure that the youths were equip with emerging skills that would enable them them become globally competitive.
Earlier, in her welcome remark, the State Coordinator National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mrs. Edith Omoku, welcomed all participants and special guests to the occasion and enjoined the beneficiaries whom she noted, were carefully selected to take the three months training seriously so as to be self-reliant and employers of labour.
In good will message, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Youths Development Delta State, Dr. Ngozi Mogbolu, called on the participants to be committed to the training. She added that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori led administration in the State, has a similar programme aimed at engaging the youths and unemployed men and women in the State.
She thanked Tinubu’s administration for engaging youths across the country and advised youths to shun all sort of social vices especially the ‘yahoo-yahoo’ which she noted has taken centre stage in the minds of so many youths across the nation.
Responding on behalf of other participants, Mr. Chuks Okafor expressed appreciation to NDE and the Federal Government stressing that he was very happy when he received a text message that he was selected for the Federal Government Renewed Hope Employment Initiative of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. He enjoined his co-participants to take the training seriously as it was aimed at making them self-reliant and employers of labour.
The 1,930 participants were later grouped into cluster groups and assigned to their respective trainers for the training desinged to last for three months after which the participants were expected to be be given start-up capital.
The event which was colourful was graced by the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Youths Development, Heads of Federal Establishments (COHEADS), other invited dignitaries and the media.
Signed
Celestine Afokobah
FIC Asaba
