The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have graduated as well as distributed starter pack to about 56 youths in Abuja.
The Acting Director General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, while speaking during graduation in Bwari Abuja restated the commitment of the directorate to the provision of marketable skills and adequate jobs for the teeming unemployed Nigerians.
According to Mallam Fikpo, the disbursement exercise was part of the federal government efforts at enhancing job creation and promoting self reliance.
The 56 youths and women who were drawn from Kogi and Plateau states were trained in catering services, photography and GSM handset repairs under the Youths at Risk Programme.
The Acting DG revealed that the training was aimed at delivering marketable and functional skills to the beneficiaries, thus creating pool of competent artisans ready to contribute positively towards the development of their locality and the nation at large.
After six months of intensive training, he stated that the beneficiaries of the empowerment exercise were expected to set up their individual micro enterprises within their immediate localities where they will contribute to economic growth of the nation.
He appreciated UNDP for partnering the NDE in delivering the training and the starter packs to the beneficiaries.
He further observed that the UNDP has remained a strong partner of NDE and a veritable institution for the promotion and execution of job creation initiatives in Nigeria.
The Acting Director General who charged the beneficiaries to redouble their efforts in ensuring the sustainability of their enterprises and justify the huge capital invested in them, promised to provide mentoring and support services to ensure that the beneficiaries do not relapse into the unemployed market.