From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has said at least 21,000 Nigerians will benefit from the second phase of the Renewed Hope Job Creation Programme, which will be fully digital.
The Director-General of the agency, Silas Agara, disclosed this on Thursday at a strategy meeting with state and zonal directors in Abuja.
Agara said the rollout will address complaints from the first phase, especially delays in stipends, and will also prioritise local content by tailoring skill sets to the specific needs of different states to ensure relevance and sustainability. He further revealed that Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and development partners will support beneficiaries with training and funding.
According to him, “Yes, for the second phase, we are working with a minimum of 21,000, but like I said, those numbers can go up. But we are being careful so that the states can exhaust allocations given to them. Once those allocations are given to them with resources made available, we can increase those numbers.
“Last year, we had support from some NGOs… This time around, we are working with some NGOs that will come in, and once they come in, those numbers can still go up. Again, we are working with development partners to support our beneficiaries.”
“They have requested for the of those that we trained, so that they can reach out to them on their own and support them. It is not for us to dictate to the bank what to give them, but it is for the bank to see what they are interested in doing, and to carry out the needs assessment of all the beneficiaries and to know the capacity and what they can utilise.
“We have a lot of development partners that we are working with. Last year, we worked with a few numbers. This time around, some new ones indicated interest in working with us. It is a work in progress. As soon as we conclude and fine-tune the details, of course, we will make the names available.”
The first phase of the Initiative was launched in December 2024, targeting 93,731 unskilled and unemployed Nigerians across the country. The programme, implemented by the NDE in collaboration with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, focused on vocational training in 30 skill areas, with special attention to women, persons with disabilities, and mature individuals.
At least 40,000 beneficiaries were trained in ICT and digital skills, while each of the 8,809 electoral wards had a minimum of 10 participants.