AS part of its effort to reduce the rate of unemployment and help beneficiaries of its agro-based schemes become stakeholders in the agricultural sector, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has provided facilities to some unemployed persons in Delta State through its Agricultural Enhancement Scheme (AES).
The event took place in Oshimili South Local Council of the state.
According to a statement signed by the Principal Information Officer at the NDE office in Delta State, Ngozi Lynda Okonkwor, the Director-General of NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, expressed his appreciation to the supervising minister of the NDE and Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Honourable Nkiruka Onyejeocha, for her commitment towards promoting agriculture as a business and attracting unemployed Nigerians into modern agribusinesses.
Declaring open the occasion, the DG NDE said the graduated trainees of various Rural Employment Promotion (REP) training schemes will be provided with facilities in 14 states of the federation and FCT, which will enable them to start up or enhance their off-farm agribusinesses in their areas of interest to become self employed, create wealth and generate employment opportunities for others.
While congratulating the beneficiaries in the 14 states and FCT where the flag-off ceremony is taking place simultaneously, Fikpo stated that the Federal Government established the NDE to tackle the rising rate of unemployment in the country.
He said, “The directorate has been carrying out these responsibilities through sensitisation, counselling and reorienting the minds of the unemployed youths to deemphasise the search for non-existent white collar jobs and embrace skills acquisition provided by NDE as a viable option to wage employment and equally as a deliberate choice of self reliance.”
Fikpo recalled that for almost four decades, the directorate has been tackling the rise in unemployed through series of demand-driven skills in entrepreneurial, agricultural, vocational (technical and domestic) and enterprise creation for young school leavers and unemployed graduates searching for jobs to embrace self employment as a deliberate choice to become self-reliant, create wealth and reduce poverty.
The Deputy Director of the REP department, Beatrice Oruoyehu, in her remarks at the ceremony, stated that it is worthy of note that thousands of NDE-trained youths and rural farmers do not receive assistance to start up their agribusinesses, while the majority were left to roam about hopelessly in the labour market and this has led to the increasing rate of unemployment in the country.
Oruoyehu further stated that the aim of the event was to sensitise the beneficiaries on the effective utilisation of the facilities which will be provided to them.
The State Coordinator, NDE Delta State, Mr Jinanwa Chukwuma, in his welcome address, congratulated the beneficiaries and advised that they make judicious use of the facilities for the purpose for which they are meant and pay back at the stipulated time to enable others benefit.
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