The National Directorate of Empowerment, NDE, Wednesday flagged off the training of about 120 youth in Enugu state on confectionery, baking and souvenir making to be eligible to become employers of labour.
The Enugu state coordinator of NDE, Thecla Ndibuagu, who declared the training open on behalf of the director general, NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, said the training was in line with NDE’s mandate to fight mass unemployment with emphasis on self-reliance and skills acquisition.
Ndibuagu stated that the beneficiaries will enjoy the privilege of not only being their own bosses but also employers of labour and asked them to take their training serious.
She equally made it known that at the end of their training, they would be provided with a “revolving soft loan” to be repaid within six months moratorium.
The NDE boss told the lucky beneficiaries that thy are expected to put in their best to ensure that they succeed in their chosen skills.
She said in no distant time, they expect to hear success stories that the beneficiaries have made good use of their training and start paying back the loans to enable others to benefit as well.
“We expect you to start repaying according to the repayment schedule after the moratorium period to enable other unemployed youth to benefit also,” she charged.
Two nongovernmental organisations, League of Women Voters of Nigeria, NILOW and Women Education Advocacy and Development Initiative (WEADI), represented by Sylvia Abana and Chiwetalu Nenechi respectively graced the occasion.
Speaking on behalf of the two groups, Abana of the NILOW, encouraged the participants to take their training serious, adding that many entrepreneurs passed through NDE programmes.
“A lot of people have prospered from here. Do not see the training as a waste of your time,” she stated.
