To cushion the prevailing socio-economic challenges the country is trying to overcome, the director general (DG) of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Silas Agara, has underscored the imperative of the unemployed youths embracing some stop-gap skills acquisition jobs.
The President Bola Tinubu – led federal government, he explained, has churned out various empowerment and job creation schemes aimed at cushioning the current hardship accompanying the ongoing sectoral reforms in the polity and stressed the need for patience for the rejigging process to run its full circle.
Agara, who recently assumed the NDE job as the new boss, stated that his appointment came with a charge to overhaul and reposition the directorate for optimal employment creation, vowing his determination to fulfill the mandate.
The DG who was represented by the state coordinator, Mrs. Uduak Effiong Essien, stated this over the weekend during the opening of a training workshop for targetted beneficiaries at the State’s Technology Incubation Centre (TIC), Uyo, the state capital.
“Today signposts the first step in the execution of the President’s directives,” he explained, and enjoined the trainees to show more than a passing interest in the programe to justify the federal government’s commitment to the project.
“The Renewed Hope Employment Initiative (RHEI), is a short term programme aimed at checking the scourge of unemployment in Nigeria, and the initiative has been designed to engage 93,731 unskilled and unemployed persons across Nigeria,” he explained.
The State’s Head of Civil Service (HoCS), Elder Effiong Essien, lauded the federal government for launching the initiative through the office of the NDE, noting that it has created a window of opportunities for unemployed youths.
Represented by the permanent secretary, Ministry of Labour and Manpower Planning, Mrs. Rita Akpanessien, the HoCS commended the state governor, Pastor Umo Eno, for keying into the scheme at the centre, and bringing the opportunity back home for the needy.
He, therefore, encouraged the participants to be diligent, committed and tolerant by ensuring they take every step of the training seriously, noting that it would go a long way towards reducing the rate of unemployment in Nigeria.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Amaka Johnson, appreciated the gesture and pledged to take every step of the training seriously.
