How NDE’s vocational skill training, resettlement saved us from the streets, bettered our lives —Beneficiaries

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has been in the business of equipping and empowering unemployed Nigerians, especially youths with vocational skills and different entrepreneurship training to enable them earn a living through gainful economic activities. At one of its resettlement programmes that followed a vocational skills training, which took place in some selected states of the federation, the testimonies and requests of a group of 18 young men was striking. CHRISTIAN APPOLOS reports. 

It was obvious that this particular little effort aimed at equipping the unemployed with a means of livelihood has yielded good fruits that will fill many hungry stomachs, change lives for the better and save more persons from crime.

It was the graduation and resettlement day, the day the Federal Government, through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), will give beneficiaries of its training with  startup facilities to aid the establishment of the trade they have learnt.

At Kaduna Training Centre, the venue of the event, while the beneficiaries of other trades were all dressed up waiting for the graduation and resettlement event to start, a group of young men in welding, carpentry/furniture and aluminum vocational skills, were busy at the workshop, working. They, in collaboration with their trainers and with the permission of the centre, look for jobs and work on them as a team.

About 50 beneficiaries graduated from the training centre on that day, March 13. They were all given startup facilities to kick start business on the trade they learnt. Accordingly, they were equipped with vocational skills in hairdressing, fashion and design, interior decoration, carpentry, welding, POP, aluminum and fabrication, electrical installation, catering and event management. Among them are graduates, school leavers, housewives and young men and women aged between 22 and 35 years.

The young men, who have formed a team, said the training took them off the streets and saved them from many temptations, especially from joining gangs and living a life of crime that may have ruined their lives. They also expressed their determination to be a success story and good example for others who are on the streets. Top on their list is to legitimately earn a living and to support their families and relatives.

“The training saved my life from what I may have become, going to and fro on the streets. It is a very terrible experience living a life without hope. You wake up, go out and come back with nothing. No money, no food, no help because people you are looking on to help you are equally looking for help. The saddest part of it is not knowing what will become of you.

“Here on the streets of Kaduna, you could easily be recruited into anything. So, I thank the government for saving me. That’s why I and other guys here are determined to make use of this opportunity for good. If we misuse it, we are the ones that will suffer it. I did many work in motor parks but when you do not have anyone to help you stand, you still end up back on the streets.

“There are many guys out there who are looking for this kind of opportunity. Some of them want to be saved like us. Therefore we are begging the government to provide more opportunities like this. Apart from the fact that this training provided us the opportunity to earn a living, for us; it is a means to save us from crime and to prolong our lives. We are grateful.

“We are begging the government to save others too through this kind of training,” said, Ibrahim Ahmed, a 30-year old beneficiary skilled in carpentry/furniture.

Jonathan Ayah, an indigene of Kaduna State, aged 30 and skilled in welding, said, “It is a great privilege the government provided for us through NDE. I used to wonder what my situation would have been without this great opportunity. Today, I am working with a group of people who motivate me to be more focused and hard-working.

“We collaborate to collect jobs and we do them and make gains. We also work for the ogas (trainers) that trained us. The training we received has change our lives for the better. We are so proud that we have something doing. Now we support our family members and our living condition is better than what it used to be. We are also determined to continue working together and we will make it. Government has done us well for us and I ask them to increase the number so that more people will benefit.”

For Usman Yusuf, a 22-year old wielder, he is very happy for the opportunity to receive the training. According to him, “After secondary school I was at home doing nothing. My parents have no money to send me to further my education or to acquire a skill. I was on the streets every day; sometimes I see something to eat and sometimes I don’t. Then a friend told me about NDE training. I came the first time but they have taken the number of people they wanted. Then I came back at another time and was lucky be enlisted for the training. I thought they would ask me to pay money for registration but I was surprised they didn’t. They registered me and I started learning.

“Today I have learnt so much that I am helping the new intakes to learn too. I am even happy that we work together and will continue working together outside here. I am so grateful to government for what they have done for me. Apart from the guys we work with, some ogas that have their own shop call me sometimes to work for them and they pay me.

“This good thing government has done for us, I pray them to continue so that others will receive the training too and have something to do to earn money. Many young people like me are out there looking for opportunities like this.”

A 30-year old Abdullahi Musa who received training in fashion and design, said, “First, my gratitude goes to the Federal government and NDE for this great opportunity. It saved my life and I believe it will better it the more. I was in search of job for many years before the opportunity for this training came. I survived for years after school through the help of family and friends. I am a graduate. I was depressed and even suicidal at some point after many job expectations that didn’t materialise.

“The training has given my life a meaning. I received training on fashion and design. I have sewn for myself and immediately family members.

“The facilities they gave us today is the greatest boast of the whole exercise. Yes, I know that receiving this training does not mean that the challenge of sustaining it will not be there but acquiring this skill is a big achievement and game changer for me. I beg the NDE and Federal Government to do more because a lot of youth need opportunities like this. The hardship in the country is too much and youth need work to earn a living.”

A housewife, Mrs Helen Ovierie, who received training on catering, said, “I tried working in few places to support my family as a housewife, but I needed a handwork. Luckily, someone told me about NDE vocational skills training centre, then I came here and registered. Two months into the training, I started making small chops for family and friends on their birthdays and events. I can tell you that this training lifted my spirit. I feel so happy. The impact of this training is really beyond measure. As government has given me this opportunity, I urge them to expend this kind of training opportunity to more women like me. It really will go a long way to help them do one or two to support their families.”

Shaaibu Abdullahi Adamu, the NDE Manager in charge of the training centre, confirmed the story of the young men who work as a team.

He said, “Some of them are so serious that within the first month of training, you will think they have already acquired the skill before coming here. Some, even after they graduated, keep contacting us and the trainers especially when they have some challenges in their work.”

He added that the centre had trained about 2,000 unemployed men and women in the recent past.

He added, “A lot of unemployed youths, men and women come often asking to be enrolled. But we are constrained by many factors and cannot train all of them at the same time. I know we need to do more considering the rate of unemployment in the country and skyrocketing rate of crime that may be attributed to idleness.

“We are doing our best. NDE has centres like this in other states and unemployed people are also trained there. So you can imagine the resources needed to increase the number of intakes. My greatest joy is that majority of those we have trained here are doing very well.”

The Head of Department, Vocational Skills Development, Mrs Mesimna Banam, on her part said, “I can emphatically tell you that this little we are doing has change the life many of the beneficiaries. Some of them are doing so well that we call them back many times to help admonish and train others. And I think we the NDE need the support from state governments, private sector organisations and philanthropists because the effort to equip our youths to engage in gainful economic activities is every body’s responsibility. A safe society is one where majority of the youths are engaging in productive activities.”

Also, NDE Kaduna State Coordinator, Hajia Halima, said the training has been impactful. According to her, one important aspect of the training is the resettlement of beneficiaries.

Halima said, “In the end, they go on to generate employment. They may not be generating large-scale employment opportunities, but the one of two persons they engage and train is a big plus for us in NDE. The silver lining is that they train either their sisters and brother, thereby impacting their communities.

“NDE’s greater need to train more youths is a serious collaboration between state governments, private sector organisations, etc. It is a necessary if we must have a peaceful and decent society. There so much restlessness among the youth in the country. In fact, there are certain areas you cannot comfortably walk about due to the kind of faces you will see. We are living in a society where many youths are idle and restless because of hardship and joblessness. Therefore collaboration between state governments and organisations in the private sector is key to change the narrative for a decent and productive society for all and to reduce unemployment crisis.”

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