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Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has commenced training of 390 women and youths of Ebonyi State in 15 different vocational skills.
NDE said the target was to sufficiently equip and empower them to be self-reliant so as to become useful to themselves and the society.
The training is coming few weeks after the agency recruited a total of 5,000 unemployed youths and women from five local government areas of the state for its Special Public Works (SPW) scheme in rural areas.
The 390 beneficiaries, drawn from the 13 council areas of the state, were trained in computer operations, GSM repairs, fashion design, hair dressing, generator maintenance, barbing, vulcanizing, computer repair, catering among others.
The training, expected to last three months, was organized under one of the agency’s cardinal programs called Basic National Open Apprenticeship Scheme also known as B-NOAS.
Director-general of the agency, Dr. Nasir Mohammed, who spoke at the orientation for the trainees, said unemployment was one of the major factors that has continued to frustrate the developmental efforts of successive administrations in the country.
Represented by an Assistant Director in the agency, Mr. Obinna Offia, the NDE boss who commended the efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in eradicating poverty and unemployment in the country, said the training marked a milestone in the NDE’s quest towards poverty alleviation, wealth creation and employment generation in the country.
“It is apparent that Nigeria as a nation is highly endowed with both human and natural resources. However, unemployment remains one of the very serious social challenges militating against her march to full development. The repercussions of mass unemployment if not properly addressed, will adversely affect the overall developmental obligations of the nation.”
He then, urged the beneficiaries to take the training very seriously.
In his remarks, Ebonyi State Coordinator of NDE, Mr. Marcel Igboanude, said the agency’s fight against unemployment in the state has been largely successful, adding that over 205,000 youths of the state have been trained on various skills by the agency since its inception in 1998.
He added that out of the 205,000 trained youths, over 5,000 of them have been resettled and empowered to be self-reliant within the period.
Igboanude commended the Ebonyi State Government for always supporting the activities and programmes of the agency in the state.
He further appealed to all stakeholders and agencies involved in poverty alleviation fights to join hands with the NDE to eradicate the scourge of unemployment in the country.
Igboanude contended that given the high rate of unemployment in the country, the task of fighting unemployment and poverty was quite enormous, noting that the NDE cannot do it alone.
“Hence, we are appealing to all stakeholders, philanthropists, wealthy individuals in Ebonyi state, NGOs, and all agencies involved in poverty alleviation activities to join hands with the NDE to fight the scourge of unemployment in our land.”
Also, Special Assistant to Ebonyi State Governor on Human Capital Development, Mrs. Ann Aligwe, who was represented by Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Enyinnaya Oko Egwu, lauded the Directorate for organizing the capacity building for the youths.
He stated that empowerment of the youths remained pivotal to the development of every nation even as he pledged the continued support of his Ministry in particular and the state government to NDE’s programmes in the state.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Igwe Emmanuel, from Ebonyi Local Government Area of the state thanked the agency on behalf of his counterparts and appealed for adequate post-training arrangements to enable them put the knowledge of the training to practical uses.
