THE Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has placed the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) as the apex job creation agency of the Federal Government whose performance in providing training schemes and other job creation programmes is highly commendable.
The agency also added that evidence has shown that the directorate, over the years, has provided sustainable job opportunities through different schemes to many Nigerians.
It, however, noted that inadequate funding is a major challenge facing the operations of the NDE.
BPSR said this in its assessment report of the NDE’s operations, strength, weaknesses and steps towards improvement and optimum performance and relevance in the overall project of a better Nigeria, presented in Abuja last week.
According to the Director-General of BPSR, Dr Dasuki Arabi, the report emanated from assessment tools deployed to the directorate.
At a special presentation session of the report to the management of NDE, Dr Arabi said the assessment shows that NDE is a level three silver grade organisation with 63.6 percent score.
He added that the grade is above standard going by the established measures. He went on to present the level three silver award of excellence to NDE’s Director-General, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo.
Dr Arabi said, “It means NDE consistently meets expectations in all essential areas of responsibilities, the qualities of works and services are above standard.”
He further explained that BPSR was mandated to assess all the agencies of the Federal Government to ascertain their relevance and contribution to the government’s efforts to provide dividends of democracy to Nigerians and make recommendations.
Arabi said NDE is the 106th agency to be assessed by the BPSR in Nigeria.
He further hinted that BPSR, in the course of the assessment, visited some NDE’s offices nationwide and put to test the activities of the directorate and was happy with the findings.
The DG added that BPSR is willing to partner with NDE to source for development partners on job creation. “We are willing to collaborate with the NDE to sustain her achievements and support the directorate to overcome her challenges,” Dr Arabi said.
He also said discussions are ongoing to link potential beneficiaries of the Federal Government student loans policy to the NDE in a bid to ensure that graduated students are equipped with skills.
He said when President Bola Tinubu was unveiling his developmental agenda, he had expressed determination to tackle the level of unemployment in the country. He therefore charged the NDE to step up its designed programmes, identify priority areas and record new heights in combating mass unemployment.
Meanwhile, the assessment rated NDE high on delivery of blue collar jobs through skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development to Nigerians, periodic review of programmes, schemes and strategies to meet the operating realities of job creation.
It also placed NDE high in collaborations with both private and government agencies to widen job creation opportunities, compliance with financial guidelines to meet both the national and international standards.
Other areas the report praised NDE are provision of array of skills and trades which are marketable and can be learnt by the unemployed at short durations, presence of the NDE and its skill acquisition centres in all states and virtually all 774 local government areas in the country and the use of standardised artisans to augment its established skills acquisition centres to impact skills across the nation.
Arabi said, “We must ensure that the NDE is empowered to take full ownership of its tasks, responsibilities and assignments as enshrined in the law establishing the NDE.”
According to a statement by NDE’s Head Media and Public Relations, Israel Adekitan, the Director-General of the NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, expressed delight over the report and appreciated the BPSR for keying into the priority areas of the president and assess the directorate based on the expectations of the new government.
He advised the unemployed, especially the youths, to avail themselves of job opportunities already presented by the Federal Government through the NDE.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Shukroh Adeyemi is a first-class graduate of the Department of English, Lagos State University (LASU), for the…
Full list: Names of ex-governors receiving pensions in 10th Senate
No fewer than 13 former governors still receive pension allowances as serving senators in the…
Mmesoma’s father apologises, begs JAMB, Nigerians, to pardon daughter
Mr Romanus Ejikeme, the father of Mmesoma Ejikeme, the 2023 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidate who…
Asisat Oshoala shortlisted for 2023 Ballon d’Or award
Nigerian football star and Super Falcons forward, Asisat Oshoala, has been named as a nominee for the…
3 lessons from the ethnicization of JAMB controversy
OVER the last few days, Irecoiled in horror and disgust as the fairly straightforward case of JAMB exam result fraud by…
Rahinatu Ibrahim, popularly called Ganga, recalled with nostalgia when she first embarked on her journey to the…
and then