As a result of President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years, the Federal Government of Nigeria has initiated a Safety Net-Job for Unskilled Persons, as a strategic move to raise a significant percentage of untrained and idle Youths out of unemployment.
The Director, Special Duties and Project of the Federal Ministry Labour and Employment, Dr. Martina Nwordu, revealed this at a National Survey for Generation of Baseline Data on Unskilled Persons in Nigeria in Bauchi recently.
According to her, the ability of the country to deliver on this resolve depends largely on the co-operation of relevant sectors especially the social sectors of which the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment is part of.
She however classified unskilled persons as young persons within the age bracket of 12 to 30 years with a maximum educational qualification of Senior Secondary School Certificate.
She further revealed that due to limited information on exact number of this critical population of the country, their location, accessibility and poverty status, planning and implementation of intervention strategies for them would be put forward.
The Director identified the formal and informal institutions targeted for the survey as Homes for the Poor established by NGOs, FBOs and International Organisation, Live-in Educational Institutions established for the Homeless Youths by religious bodies and Faith Based Organisations, Market Tout Unions, Street Urchins and Area Boys Groups and IDPs Camps.
Some of the areas visited by Dr. Nworgu and Labour Officers in Bauchi were Cornerstone Centre for Educational Development and Children (FBO), Wunti GSM Market Touts Union, Unguwan Mai-Anguwa Street Corner Area Boys, Tsangayar Shiek Dahiru Bauchi Phase Two- Almajiri Educational Institution among others.
Charles Akpan
Deputy Director/Head of Press
