NDE to create over 40,000 new jobs by December

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), is working to ensure that the current diversification policy of the federal government achieves the twin benefit of food security and job creation. The acting Director-General of the NDE, Mr Kunle Obanya,  said that the agency was seeking ways to tackle the menace of youth unemployment through training schemes. […]

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), is working to ensure that the current diversification policy of the federal government achieves the twin benefit of food security and job creation.
The acting Director-General of the NDE, Mr Kunle Obanya,  said that the agency was seeking ways to tackle the menace of youth unemployment through training schemes.
The NDE, in April,  empowered  over 4,000 Nigerians from 17 states under its Vocational Skills Development Programme.
A breakdown of the figure showed that from each of the17 states, 30 persons were directly empowered with equipment such as sewing, weaving and hair dressing machines, computer and generator sets, plumbing and welding set of tools, as well as sets of mechanic and vulcanising tools, while another set of 220 graduates who were previously trained, not empowered, but were already practicing their skills, also received cash life line to support their businesses. This gave a total of 250 beneficiaries, which in 17 states amounted to over 4,000 persons benefiting from this Artisans Resettlement and Mentoring Scheme (ARMS) of the NDE.
Also, in September,  more than 200 Katsina women began training under the NDE in various income generating scheme. The scheme which is a collaborative effort with the Future Assured, the pet project of the wife of the president, Mrs Aisha Buhari, would be replicated in the four geo-political zones of the country, with another set of 200 women to start training in Lagos. This meant that, at least, over 1,000 women would be trained under the scheme.
Though the NDE has been in the business of job creation for over three decades, the emerging trend in the unemployment market and current economic challenges facing the country meant that the directorate must go beyond the old ways of tackling the menace.
Obayan  said that after months of hard work and creative thinking,  over 40, 000 new jobs and small scale businesses would be injected into the economy by year’s end.
He explained that anticipated jobs  would turn beneficiaries into wealth creators.
For instance, two beneficiaries of the NDE training scheme would start producing pencils and toothpicks, two commodities that cost the country millions of dollars, annually, to import.
Obayan said: “In the next few months, we are going to commission some landmark projects from two of our beneficiaries. One is the production of toothpick, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria. We have a beneficiary that is setting up a toothpick manufacturing plant and we are going to commission it next month. The other one is pencil. We don’t have anybody that does that in Nigeria. We import all our pencils. And we have a beneficiary who has set up a plant to produce pencil. The beauty of this pencil is that it is actually made out of waste paper. It is not from wood. So, it is from waste to wealth. We will also commission that next month.”
Furthermore, the Rural Employment Management Information System (REMIS), a new initiative introduced by the NDE, was expected to address the challenge of youth unemployment and boost food production in the country.
The head of the NDE said that under the REMIS scheme, over 2500 graduate would be engaged as agents and their job would be to liaise with farmers, provide them with information on farm inputs, prices of their produce and how they can expand their business.