Women and people with special needs were the focus as the federal government on Friday flagged off the 93,731 Renewed Hope Employment Initiative (RHEI) nationwide.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Dingyadi while flagging off the initiative at the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Skills Acquisition Centre Kuduru in Bwari, Abuja, said federal government would continue to provide sound policies and funding needed to create more jobs and empowerment opportunities for Nigerians.
Represented by the Director Overseeing the office of the Perm. Sec. Labour, Mr. John Nyamale, the Minister noted that the initiative which was carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, would train about 40,000 Nigerians in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and digital skills. Also, 3,000 slots out of the 93,731 beneficiaries of the scheme under the supervision of the National Directorate of Employment, NDE, have been reserved for persons with special needs.
“This initiative connect deeply with the aspiration of the current government at the centre, which seek to provide jobs for Nigerians as a means of addressing our economic challenges. Through the instrumentality of skilled acquisition training across several sectors, I was informed that the NDE will be reaching out and touching unemployed person in the next three months
“I admonish the beneficiaries to take maximum advantage of the opportunity the programme offers.”
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda who was represented by Odii Barry, said the initiative was one of the current administration’s strategies to to remove 10 million Nigerians living in Nigeria from poverty.
“You will agree with me that if 93,731 persons are gainfully employed, productively working, they are out of the poverty level. For that reason, the Ministry has no choice but to continue to collaborate with the NDE in order to get
lots of Nigerians out of the poverty level.
“We will continue to give support to their (NDE) programmes for social inclusion and to enable the people of Nigeria get out of poverty. I request that the participants, the beneficiaries of this training programme take it very seriously because it is not easy to come about this kind of programme. he more they take it seriously, the more the agencies and the federal government will be encouraged to do more.”
The Director General of NDE, Silas Ali Agara explained that out of the 3,000 slots reserved for persons with special needs, each state of the federation including the FCT was expected to have 81 slots.
According to him, some of the beneficiaries would be resettled into productive entrepreneurial lives through the provision of tools, equipment and startup capital. He added that discussions were ongoing with credit granting institutions to ensure every beneficiary of the scheme was settled.
“The current employment initiative has been designed to engage a total of 93,731 unskilled and unemployed persons across Nigeria.
”Inclusiveness has been a cardinal consideration as we designed this programme. We have ensured that a minimum of 10 persons from each of the 8,809 electoral wards in Nigeria were recruited to benefit from the 30 skills set across our four core programmed of vocational skills development, small scale enterprises, rural employment promotion and special public works.
“Furthermore, various categories of the unskilled and unemployed have been provided for within the framework of the programme such as school leavers, school dropouts, women, graduates of tertiary institutions, retirees and persons with special needs among others.
“I would like to add that after the training, a good number of the beneficiaries will be resetled into productive entrepreneurial lives through the provisions of tools, equipment and startup capital
“However, those that we are not able to resettle will be linked with credit Granting Institutions for further support.
“I am delighted to inform you that 40,000 out of the 93,731 persons enrolled in this programme will be receiving training in ICT and digital skills. This is a deliberate step by the NDE in order to equip our youths with emerging skills that will enable them become globally competitive.”
