The National Directorate of Employment, NDE in its commitments to root out poverty and joblessness through skill acquisition schemes has commenced a four weeks training in Quick-Fix Demand Driven Skills and three months Technocultural Crafts Training Scheme (TECRATS) in FCT to generate employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths in the country.
The director general of NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, who was represented at the flag-off ceremony of the twin event by Mr. Charles Aye of Vocational skill department, NDE national headquarters said the Quick-Fix training has 50 beneficiaries that will be expose to the four weeks Demand Driven Skills training such as interior decoration and catering while the Technocultural Crafts Training Scheme also has 50 beneficiaries whose training shall focus on Leather Works, tie/dye for a training period of three months.
Fikpo, noted that many Nigerian communities are richly blessed with amazing indigenous cultural crafts, but are barely utilized and has received less attention from the younger generation thereby risking extinction.
He, therefore, said the National Directorate of Employment designed the Technocultural Crafts Training Scheme (TECRATS), so as to revamp the practice of the Indigenous cultural crafts, in the rural and sub-urban areas of the country.
He added that the Quick-Fix training was aimed at making the unemployed persons to be employable by impacting relevant demand driven skills, knowledge and competence in them, to become self-reliant and agent of change in their communities and country at large.
Also speaking, the FCT state coordinator of the NDE, Mr. Noble Chimereze while expressing optimism said that the training will not only harness the huge potentials of Indigenous cultural crafts for local industries development but will also stimulate the growth of rural economy, above all serve as vehicle for rural community development, create awareness of people’s cultural heritage as well as generates employment, and encouraged participants to take their training serious.
In the same vein the Head of department, vocational skill development NDE- FCT, Grinter Adika, advised the beneficiaries of these programmes to develop a focused and healthy mind-set towards the training so as to maximize the opportunity to better their lives and that of the people around them.
Appreciating the NDE, Mrs Ann Babalola thanked the federal government for the well thought out program coming from their genuine mind to eradicate poverty in the land and promised to make good use of the opportunity to better her life.