Govt empowers 430 graduates with equipment, cash

Keeping up with its promise to create jobs for unemployed Nigerians, the Federal Government, through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), has empowered 430 persons across the country through the disbursement of equipment and cash.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige disclosed this recently at the resettlement of graduates of vocational skills development programme of NDE in Awka, Anambra state.

The Minister further revealed that in the next two months, over 2,800 new businesses would have been generated across the country under the second phase of the scheme, involving persons already trained in vocational skills such as hair dressing, dress making, wielding, computer repairs, brick laying etc, who will later be empowered with relevant starter packs to commence small scale businesses.

Ngige added that NDE in the last one month has recruited about 1,850 persons nationwide under the Community Based Training Scheme(CBTS), who would be later resettled to commence small scale businesses in the rural communities across the country.

“Similarly, 370 newly trained agricultural entrepreneurs under the NDE Commercial Farmers Training Project (CFTP) have received soft loans amounting to N37 million to start agro businesses in all the 36 states and FCT.

“In our efforts to provide stop-gap-job opportunities, NDE under the Graduate Coaching Scheme (GCS) has engaged about 518 unemployed graduates with qualifications in education who are currently serving as coaches/instructors in designed centres throughout the federation”, he noted.