By Sadiq Abubakar
Maiduguri
The federal government said yesterday that about 30,000 Nigerian graduates were currently participating in its Graduates Internship Scheme (GIS) aimed at addressing graduates unemployment in the country.
GIS project director, Mr. Peter Papka, stated this while speaking at a Career Development and Entrepreneurship Skills Training for the
interns in Maiduguri.
Papka explained that the participants were shortlisted out of the 300,000 graduates who registered for the scheme.
He said that the GIS was aimed at impacting skills on the interns towards preparing them for the employment market or making them self employed.
“About 300,000 graduates registered in our portal for the GIS, but we have only been able to give about 30,000 graduates the internship.
“ You can see the difference,’’ Papka said.
He said only about 200 out of the 4,000 Borno graduates, who registered for the scheme, were considered.
“Over 4,000 graduates registered in Borno, but just about 200 are in the scheme in the state. There is a huge gap that needed to be addressed”, Papka said.
He said that the scheme had been most competitive among Nigerian graduates, adding: “You can see how competitive the scheme has been. It is an opportunity that the interns have and we expected that they
take full advantage of the opportunity that is why we are providing orientation and employability program to them.
“The scheme also includes career development so that it can prepare them for life after the internship. We are advising them to take full advantage of the opportunity”.
