By Raphael Ede
Enugu
Following the alarming rates of unemployment in Nigeria, the Project Director, Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS), Mr. Dennis Chukwu, has charged Nigerian youth to be maximise their potentials.
Chukwu, who gave the charge in Enugu during a 3-day exit of GIS career development and entrepreneurship skills training said the core aim of the scheme was for skills building and job creation for graduates to begin action plan for the future without further delay.
The graduates were trained by two companies namely: S C Romabless Nig Ltd and K-rebirt Styles Ltd with each one training 50 interns.
While at the training centre of S C Romabless Nig Ltd, Mrs. Ngozi Ebechidi, represented the project director of GIS, Mr. Dennis Chukwu, Mr. Jimmy Ochunge represented GIS Project Director at K-rebirt styles Ltd.
The project director noted that the essence of the scheme was to have graduates trained, mentored and supported with skills in non-oil sectors such as ICT, agriculture and community health, amongst others.
According to him, the training presented an opportunity for graduate interns to gain employment in organisations or be self-employed.
He said that the federal government would continue to improve the capacity of the scheme to absorb more applicants as long as thousands of graduates remained unemployed.
“My hope is that the GIS will be another example that Nigeria will sell to the world as a way out of graduates’ unemployment.
“It is also my hope that some years down the line, the GIS interns will galvanise different sectors, especially the non-oil sectors, which are the new focus of the Nigerian economy”, e added.
While Chukwu also noted that the programme is in partial fulfillment for the social protection and inclusive growth objective of the federal government, he however, reminded the interns that “as they exit the scheme, it is therefore encouraged that they distinguish themselves and become employers rather than seeking for a job”.
Mrs. Nene Okon and Mrs. Akuma who monitored the programme were nominees from the Federal Ministry of Finance.
