500,000 youths have benefited from N-Power programme, says presidency

The presidency says over 500,000 Nigerians have benefited from its N-power programme, which the Federal Government initiated to provide jobs for youths and women.

Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Job Creation, Afolabi Imoukhuede, disclosed this yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The aide, who made the disclosure at the launch of ‘Build the Future’, Oyo State chapter, said the youths have been continuously stuffed with the famous say that “you are the future of tomorrow,” yet the quality of the future being talked about is clouded with uncertainty.

He disclosed that over 500,000 of Nigerian youth and women across all the 774 local government have been engaged since 2016, adding that this has gone a long way in reducing the rate of unemployment in the country.

Imoukhede explained: “200,000 youths were engaged in the first batch, and another 300,000 in August 2018 in the second batch of the programme.

He added that Nigerians need to lay a foundational blocks and commence the process of building, if we are to achieve the future of our dreams.

He stressed that the N-Power social investment programme was specifically designed for the unemployed youth from the age of 18 to 35.

He explained that it is a platform that advocates the progress, empowerment and development of Nigeria through her most important asset, which is her youth.

“The president promised Nigerians four years ago that he would take youth employment as one of his top priority, if voted into power. He added that he would also diversify the economy to engage more people, and interven directly through National Social Investment programmes,” he said.

Imoukhede stressed that the selection process is smooth and transparent, noting that it was not politically motivated, because beneficiaries were choosen, irrespective of their religious or political affiliation.

Beneficiaries of the programme in Ibadan, have also canvassed support for Buhari’s re-election.

They gathered at the Remembrance Arcade, near the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, from where they walked through Total Garden, the main gate of the University College Hospital (UCH), and Dandaru to Agodi Gardens.

Commissioner for Wowen Affairs, Community Development, Social Welfare and Poverty Alleviation in the state, Mrs. O. Osunkoya, lauded the programme, and Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s active support for it.