ABUJA (Min of Labour and Employment Report) – The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in collaboration with the Republic of Germany, has organised a Job Fair aimed at bringing jobs closer to the people in Nigeria.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, who declared the event open said, “Job fairs generally help to bring real time jobs closer to the people and generate relevant labour market information for strategic planning purposes”.
The Minister who described the fair as a result of the cordial working relationship between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Federal Republic of Germany, expressed the expectation that the Fair would avail Nigerians opportunities for job placement into productive employment and decent jobs.
He explained that the present administration placed a lot of importance on investing in people and had made it one of the key goals of its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), which is the National Development Blueprint for the period 2017-2020, and that efforts were on-going to reduce the population of youths Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET).
He continued that, “The implementation of the Plan through some flagship programmes such as the National Social Investment Program (NSIP) has yielded some measurable outcomes in the form of increased school enrolment and creation of more jobs; one of the key components of the NSIP, the N-Power Program and its sub-components, have led to the creation of job opportunities in different sectors of the economy for young persons”.
Sen. Ngige further said that the Federal Government had given various forms of support to some sectors of the economy with high propensity to massive job creation and employment generation. These sectors include Agriculture, Solid Minerals, Power, Works and Housing, Transport (Railways Construction), and Trade and Investment.
While speaking earlier, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr Helmut Kulitz, and Head of Programme Skills Development for Youth Employment (SKYE), Mr Hans-Ludwig Bruns, said the Abuja Job Fair 2019, would reduce unemployment, especially among youths in Nigeria by providing a platform to bring together employers offering vacant positions with job seekers that have a matching qualification for the purpose of recruitment.
According to them, the Abuja Job fair 2019 is organized within the context of the “Returning to New opportunities” programme, which is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
In Nigeria, the objectives of the programme include Skill Development for Youth Employment (SKYE), Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria (SEDIN), and Programme Migration for Development (PME).
Charles Akpan
Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations
