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Tag: jobs

  • GEI sees increase in jobs, others in Nigeria

    THE Global Entrepreneur Indicator (GEI) has predicted a favourable outlook for the economy for the next six months in job creation, access to capital, use of debt instrument and increase confidence in the Nigerian business environment, among others.

    GEI, which is published by Entrepreneur Organisation (EO), said during a press conference in Lagos at the weekend that there is a positive outlook for the Nigerian entrepreneurship community with 100 per cent respondent hopeful that the economic environment will improve tremendously in the next six months.

    In the survey where 3,670 participants shared their feelings various economic activities for the next six months stated that 63.6 per cent of EO members in Nigeria expect an increase in access to capital and no feeling of a decrease in the subject. The survey stated that 36.4 per cent of respondents feel that access to capital will maintain current level.

    EO GEI Survey also revealed that 45 per cent of the respondents see an increase in the use of debt instruments while 18.2 per cent others see a decrease use of same, but 32 per cent see the use of the instrument remain constant in the next six months.

    There is also expectation from 72.7 per cent that the number of part-time workers will increase while 9.1 per cent see decrease  in the current number but 18.2 per cent stated that the number of part-time workers will remain constant for the next six months. The economic outlook for the future shows an improvement. The analyses for the last six months showed 63 per cent of the samples increasing their full-time employees, 54.5 per cent showed business revenue increased and 45.5 per cent reported increase in net profit.

    About 9.1 per cent, however, indicated that use of debt instrument increased in the previous survey.

    On the global scale, the result showed that 81.5 per cent of EO members see business revenue increase while only five per cent thought a decrease is imminent while 13.5 per cent says it will stay the same way.

    Net profit on the global level, according to 76.4 per cent of the respondent surveyed, will witness an increase while 6.9 per cent saw a decrease and 16.7 per cent said it will remain same over the next six month.

    For Access to capital, only 36.4 per cent of the respondents see an increase in the next six months while 2.9 per cent expect a decrease with  60.7 per ent of the population saying it will maintain the status-quo.

    The President, Lagos Chapter, Mr. Vincent Brown, said: “Entrepreneurs and their businesses drive the global business landscape. Tomorrow’s jobs and innovations begin with today’s business owners. The Entrepreneurs’ Organisation’s Global Entrepreneur Indicator taps into the minds of the world’s leading business owners to identify trends in the world economy.”

    “The results of the GEI survey indicates a positive outlook from the Nigeria’s entrepreneur community with a 100% respondents showing strong willingness to start a new business in the current economic environment as they expect the country’s economic environment to improve tremendously during the coming six months,” he said.

    Rationalising the survey report, the Strategic Alliance Chair, EO Lagos and Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Fuel Communications, Tunji Abioye and the Marketing & Communication Chair, EO Lagos, Sam Fadiora, explained that compared with global average, Nigeria is about 50 per cent ahead .

    The duo noted that the goodwill being enjoyed by the Federal Government were impacting on the entrepreneurs’optimismand hopefulness about the business space.

    “Proper leadership, sincere effort at providing selfless governmental direction are seen as major pointers that give cautious but strident hope to the Nigerian business community,” says Abioye.

    Also, Basharu, Chair Education, EO Nigeria, who explained earlier that when the government succeeds in caging corruption, the economy will explode said Nigeria is about 50 per cent ahead of other countries.

     

  • ‘How to create jobs through agric’

    The Federal Government has been urged to sufficient and decent employment the major target for revamping the agricultural sector.

    The Deputy Director, Department of General Administration, Agricultural and Rural Management Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State, said over the next five years, over 500,000 new young graduates would enter the labour market, which mean new jobs have to be created.

    According to him, not only is the creation of new jobs important, the government should determine to make the agriculture sector attractive to encourage more investors to come in so they can work to support the development of jobs-focused agribusiness ventures.

    While employment prospect in other sector are shrinking because of massive use of technology, Adeyemo said there were possibilities of increasing the potential of the various value chains by supporting activities in production, processing, storage and marketing of commodities.

    The majority of new jobs, which would be created, would increase employment opportunities for young people between 20 and 35.

    He called for improved funding to help state governments to increase training of youths on improved techniques for crops and livestock production, processing and marketing and for new and existing entrepreneurs to modernise their businesses.

    He stressed the need to support cooperatives and chambers of commerce and industry to promote agriculture and improve the capacities of farmers and for more focus on introducing university students to agric businesses through mentorship schemes and integration of entrepreneurship into college curriculum.

    He added that the agric sector has a lot to offer young entrepreneurs and that the sector remains a major area of job creation, outside oil and telecoms, adding that what farmers and producers need is an healthy business environment with the right incentives for innovation and change and then the nation can be assured of food security.

     

  • 141,368 jobs created between May, August

    A total of 141,368 jobs were created in the second quarter. This represent a 69.9 per cent reduction from the 469,079 jobs recorded in the preceding quarter.

    In a report made available to The Nation by RTC (Resources and Trust Company) Advisory Service (a private economic consulting firm in Lagos), and signed by the Senior Consultant/CEO,   Opeyemi Agbaje, there are now 19.6 million people either unemployed or under-employed persons in the second quarter compared with 17.7 million in the first quarter.

    The report said the Nigerian economy has experienced a sharp economic downturn over the last two quarters and the domestic manufacturing sector is now in recession. It however, said  that the economy is expected to pick up with time.

    “We observe that the economic costs of the absence of an Economic Team and coherent policy in terms of lower growth, declining manufacturing performance, declining Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), rising inflation, increasing unemployment, declining capital market performance and low job creation, have been quite severe. In terms of personnel and appointments, we note that the President has made some good selections as well as several controversial ones.

    The Report said a full macroeconomic review was carried out, based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which showed that real GDP lowered to 2.35 per cent in the second quarter from 3.96 per cent in first quarter.

    “Oil sector output declined by 6.79 per cent while non-oil output grew slightly by 3.46 pr cent. Five sectors namely mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, accommodation & food services, and public administration recorded negative growths.

    “Manufacturing sector output growth in particular worsened from -0.7 per cent in first quarter  to -3.82 per cent in second quarter. This was largely attributed to oil refining, other manufacturing and food, beverage & tobacco.

    “Nigerian economy has experienced a sharp economic

    downturn over the last two quarters, and the domestic manufacturing sector is now in recession. A slide to an actual economic recession may still be averted by sound policy and economic leadership,” the reports said.

    The reports also reveal that within the  manufacturing, the falling sub-sectors include beverages and tobacco (-5.9 per cent); textile, apparel and footwear (-3.17 per cent); electrical and electronics (-0.38 per cent); motor vehicles and assembly (-0.48 per cent); and other manufacturing (-6.40per cent).

    In addition to manufacturing, other poorly-performing economic sectors include oil and gas, electricity, hotels and restaurants (accommodation and food services) and public administration.

     

  • Abia launches jobs scheme

    Abia launches jobs scheme

    The Abia State government has flagged off a scheme designed to equip youths with requisite entrepreneurial skills.

    The scheme launched at Boys Technical College (BTC), was tagged E4E or Education for Employment.

    Mr. Endi Ezengwa, the programme’s consultant, has been interacting with industrialists, with a view to securing their partnership on the project. Ezengwa, who is also the chairman of Kiara College United Kingdom, said he was partnering with seven government ministries; ministry of youth development, ministry of agriculture and others, adding that bringing in the services of industries would ensure that the programme’s success.

    He disclosed that the programme which was expected to provide employment for about 100,000 (25,000 each year) youths within the first four years of the incumbent administration, stressing that the programme was not political.

    He said that they were going to make use of the existing skill acquisition centres built across the state by the out-gone Chief Theodore Ahamefule’s administration as their training centers.

    “We are here to have a stakeholders meeting with owners of industries and businesses in Aba. We want to consult and carry them along. We want them to also tell us what their needs are so that the programme can be holistic. We don’t want to do haphazard programme. So we have met with ministry of youths, ministry of rural development we are now meeting with educational institutions amongst others. So, we want to be able to carry everybody along in this programme because Okezie Ikpeazu is very serious about youth empowerment and want it to be done properly. So he is the one who sent me. he is willing to invest in this programme but we need to show return on investment. It won’t be business as usual, we have to show that there will be output on investment. We also need to be sure that whatever that we will provide has value for money and that it will be fit for purpose; meeting the three cardinal principles of this programme. This is to prevent what has been happening before from repeating itself. We hope that we will give it our best and make sure that this is something that will last beyond his tenure as a governor.

    “The target audience of this interactive section is industrialists in Aba. There has been so much said about Aba and our ingenuity, creativity and industriousness, but this has not transcended into cash and the improvement of our lives. So E4E is  an interface that we want to create in order to help to transform the energy of the youths; to convert them into money when they become entrepreneurs, self sustaining and also when they work with established industries. That way, it is a win-win programme because it is going to ensure there is low crime rate, more money to everybody and we will all be happy. If we must be like the Taiwan and Chinese, we must learn to think and behave like the people that we are trying to imitate.

    “Students will be taught practical skills and craft on their chosen areas by the stakeholders they are going to learn the trade from and we are going to monitor the project very seriously. If the prospective candidates were supposed to learn a particular trade for 3years for instance, we will make sure that the candidate stays back on the job to complete the training and at the end of the training, they will be certified. This will enable them go for government contracts and even compete favourably with their counterparts from the Polytechnics and universities”, Ezengwa stated.

    Sir Onyebuchi Nwankpa, Director, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, represented by the Senior Technical Officer of the ministry, Mr. Aloy Chukwu, described the state government’s step to empower youths in the state with skills as laudable and describe technical and vocational education as one that would not only to put the youths off the streets, but to ensure that they have food on their tables.

    Chukwu who noted that most economies of the world are now private sector driven said that the benefits of programme would include sustaining existing industries and as well, improve the state economy with well-equipped manpower which the programme was going to provide.

    He expressed the readiness and commitment of the ministry to ensure that they assisted in their own capacity to ensuring that the purpose for which the government initiated the programme was met.

    Speakers at the event however urged the organisers to ensure that the programme works, citing examples of such programmes that looked lofty and yet could not stand the taste of the day or met the purpose for which it was initiated.

    They also want government to assist them by providing them with the enabling environment and machines to work optimally and as such boosting trade and investment in the state even as they prayed that the programme achieves the purpose for which it was meant for.

     

  • How to give graduates jobs, by experts

    Experts have identified acquisition of technical and vocational education as the panacea to rising unemployment. They spoke at a conference organised by the School of Industrial Technical Education (SITE) of the Federal College of Education (Technical) in Umunze, Anambra State. EMEKA CHUKWUEMEKA reports.

    Many graduates will remain unemployed if they continue to prefer white-collar jobs. The best way to solve the unemployment riddle is to promote technical and vocational education that will produce employable and skilled manpower.

    This was the submission of participants at the maiden conference and exhibition of the School of Industrial Technical Education (SITE) at the Federal College of Education (Technical) in Umunze, Anambra State.

    Some professionals and students engaged in discussion on how best to promote Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to engender national development.

    Presenting the lead paper titled: Challenges of TVET in skill development management issues in Nigeria, Reko Okoye, a professor of Electrical, Electronics Technology and Vocational Education at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, identified lack of leadership, apathy non-adherence to indigenous provisions and lack of sponsorship as challenges facing TVET.

    He said: “The management of technical and vocational institutions must not be given to people with a general education background. It is one of the challenges facing the development of TVET in the country. It is assumed that if leadership positions are given to TVET-oriented professionals, there is likelihood for more emphasis on skills development among the students.”

    He said most machines and equipment used for skills training are obsolete and dysfunctional. The TVET instructors, he added, are in most cases not qualified. This, he said, leads to poor training that cannot address the socio-economic needs of the society. Okoye said TVET institutions needed to restructure their training and introduce curriculum that would make the trainees useful in the job market, especially in the industry where the services of TVET graduates are required.

    He added: “Poor funding has been a problem associated with TVET programmes in many countries, including Nigeria. Inadequate funding has resulted into dearth of equipment and human resources, which in turn led to a cut-down in the quantity and quality of training provided in most TVET institutions. These challenges pose as threat to the actualisation of the critical objectives of TVET in providing skills and raising competent and productive trainees suitable for modern work.”

    Earlier in his address, Provost of the college, Prof Josephat Ogbuagu, represented by his deputy, Mrs J.C. Madichie, described the theme of the conference as timely, saying it could not have come at a better time.

    According to Ogbuagu, vocational and technical education has encountered setbacks not because of lack of policy framework, but lack of good leadership.

    He said: “A conference of this nature will provide a veritable ground for discussion of critical issues affecting development and implementation of the lofty curriculum of TVET. Despite the general challenges facing the education, the college under my administration strives to provide conducive learning environment with well-thought out programmes aimed at improving the lots of graduates of the college.

    “But rather than paint a gloomy picture for prospective graduates, the reality of the job market should serve as a challenge and wake-up call to all stakeholders to imbibe good governance and leadership in discharging our duties to the students and the society.

    “Technical and vocational education, which has been an integral part of developmental strategies in many parts of the world, because of its impact on productivity, economic and national development, is a veritable tool to stem the tide of youth unemployment and widespread poverty. One sure way of achieving this aim is through good governance mechanism in running the TVET programme.”

    The Dean, School of Industrial Technical Education (SITE), Dr. H.O. Omeje, said the panacea for challenges facing TVET must be to teach of requisite skills for human capital development.

    While the prospects and challenges of developing human capital through education continue to undergo some review, he said reasonable progress would be made if people have the right mind, attitude and technical skills to achieve economic prosperity and social equity.

    The highpoint of the conference was the exhibition of equipment built by students to show their skills and competencies.

     

     

     

     

  • ‘How cashew can create jobs, grow economy’

    Cashew has the potential for economic growth and employment if farmers  and  processors  are  supported to improve production, the Acting Executive Director of Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute Mr Julius Adebayo Onietan has said.

    In an interview, he said there was a need to revamp the industry and expand its  processing capacity to higher levels in the coming years.

    According to him, the industry is dogged by low input, low yields and poor prices for raw nuts.

    Onietan praised the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) for the training of more Nigerians in cashew processing, adding that such interventions would increase competitiveness, as well as facilitate improved production.

    He acknowledged   TechnoServe’s activities in the North on farmers’empowerment to boost their agricultural methods.

    According to experts, Nigeria good for growing and processing of cashew nuts. The north for exmaple, has expanse of land to increase production but little support is given to farmers.

    According to experts, processors should be competitive in four areas: broken nut yields, production costs, working capital rates, quality and reputation.

    Meanwhile, the West Africa Trade Hub of the USAID has earmarked over $150,000 to help finance processing raw cashew nuts to increase regional trade competitiveness, improve food security, and reduce poverty over the next five years.

    The programme, which is in partnership with Cashew Alliance, is among other objectives aimed at boosting international exports, jobs, and investments; and also to promote broader, more sustainable growth by improving both the private sector’s capacity and policies, rules and practices that govern regional and external trade. It will also increase regional trade in key commodities through more value added exports: shea, cashew, mango, rice, maize, millet/sorghum, livestock — cattle, and small ruminants.

  • ‘Inconsistent policy threatens 11m non-oil sector jobs’

    Inconsistent policy is threatening the growth of non-oil exports, which employ over 11 million people, Executive Secretary of Organised Private Sector Exporters Association (OPEXA), Jaiyeola Olarewaju, has said.

    He told The Nation that statistics showed that non-oil exports, which are agro-allied, have declined by about 20 per cent.

    The growth in the sector between 2006 and 2013, he said, was being hampered by inconsistencies in the implementation of government policy, which are aggravating the already precarious job situation.

    “Non-oil exports showed remarkable growth from $1 billion in 2006 to about $3 billion in 2013 in foreign exchange. The bulk of non-oil exports which are agro-allied, employ over 11 million Nigerians, directly and indirectly thus boosting the agriculture income.

    “However, this growth is being hampered by inconsistencies in implementing the government policy on non oil sector. For instance, the extant policy on the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and the utilisation of the Negotiable Duty Credit Certificates (NDCC) has been put on hold.

    “The recent statistics showed that the sector has declined by 10 per cent to 20 per cent, between 2014 and 2015, aggravating the already precarious forex situation. This is a threat to over 11 million direct and indirect jobs,” he said.

    Olanrewaju pointed out that the huge backlog of unutilised NDCC’s amounting to over N150 billion for over two years has paralysed the exporters’operations, adding that the liquidity crisis led to a fall in demand for agricultural commodities. Nigeria’s image as a reliable international trade partner, he said, has been affected.

    He asked the government to direct the Nigeria Customs Service to accept utilisation of NDCC for duty payment as per extant policy. The meeting of the inter-ministerial committee on EEG, Olanrewaju said, should be reconvened with the Organisation Private Sector (OPS), adding that  the Federal Ministry of Finance should treat the backlog of NDCC in a time-bound manner.

    “We (OPEXA) are convinced that the only way out for the country to disentangle itself from the shackles of mono-economy is to diversify its exports sector.

    “We will like to collaborate with government , all its agencies and other private sector organisation to further boost the expansion of non oil exports,” he said.

    Olanrewaju, former director-general of Textile Manufactures Association of Nigeria (TMAN), said manufacturers would still be in business if the quality of import could be controlled. Local products, he added, are of higher standard than imported ones

    Importers, Olanrewaju said, were fond of bringing low quality materials at ridiculous prices, making it difficult for locally manufactured products to attract patronage.

    “The truth is that we cannot compete because we are at 40 per cent disadvantage in terms of production cost. The foreign manufacturers don’t pay levies, taxes and other tariff to government to bring these items into the country. They only bribe their way. This is despite the fact that cost of production is low in the originating country.

    “All these are making imported textile to be cheaper in the market, and our products cannot compete with the cheap and low quality foreign products. So, they need to check the quality of imported products. If they fail to check smuggling of imported textile materials, this policy will eventually kill the local industry,” he said.

  • NGO to raise $1b for jobs

    In Abuja-based Non-Governmental Organisation, Roots and Origin has launched a $1billion fund for the purpose of creating jobs.

    The organisation said that as part of its programmes, proceeds from the fund will be used to train unemployed youths pursuant to being self-employed.

    The goal, according to the initiator, Hajia Aisha Pacegi, is to help the country build local content.

    She said: “What we are doing is creating funds. This is where the $I billion challenge comes in. We hope to raise funds and create jobs at the community level through this programme.

    “It’s a global initiative, a profit NGO in the sense that it is from our proceeds that we will give back to society. So whatever you buy, we take a certain percentage towards training, empowerment programmes and helping build local content in the food industry, especially among those promoting healthy lifestyles through eating right.

    “Nigeria is lagging behind a bit with regard to the issue of local content. Take a look at Ghana and what they have been able to do with making their local agriculture produce of world standard. Ghana has many cooperatives, look at what they have done with shea butter. So, we will be among those who will work towards Nigeria handling the local content issue.”

    Pacegi further explained that the organisation is “all about giving and receiving”. It’s about us loving ourselves. Life itself is a gift that we must make proper use of. For me, the first rule in life in giving and receiving. And when we say we want people to learn how to receive, we aren’t talking just money or material things.

    “We are talking about receiving help with skill acquisition. So the minute you understand that loves from your source which is you creator, you will also know that you can give out love too. We will not just train people, we will also make them realise that whatever you need to succeed is right in you. Some people might say that the greatest achievement of man are things like computers or travel to space. But if we think deeply, it is actually mankind understanding the importance of the mind. Most the things we call great are ideas from the mind.”

    Apart from sales of your products, she explained that the organistion intends to raise fund by “doing a lot of merchandising. If you look at it from the perspective that we already have good products, we can merchandise them at the global level. There are seven billion people in the world, imagine that we can use good merchandising to sell as much one billion times. We don’t have to wait for government to do this or that. We can be the one to bring about change.”

    Speaking on challenges envisage and how she intend to go around it, Hajia Pacegi said “this a process that we have started. We don’t plan to be an overnight success. We are in for the long haul and like you rightly noted, we have business plan. What we are now concerned with ensuring that our subconscious doesn’t tell us we cannot succeed on this enterprise. Talking about challenges, I know that we have a lot to do with regard to changing people’s mindsets from one of doubt to that that believes that they can succeed that we all can be part of the success story we are trying to write in our NGO.

    “We are not going to exporting just Nigerian goods. We will be marketing and merchandising brands so that way we will get into the global trade. We now live a global village where people trade online. Today, you can buy something online in Australia and it is sent to you here in Nigeria. Yes, I understand your worry about how we are going to sell. We have plans for that. What I am more concerned about is how we can get the right people to be involved.”

    Explaining further on the modalities to be adopted, Pacegi said “we will be doing more of merchandising. What we will be packaging are healthy food items we eat here in Nigeria. We will be telling the world how they can eat right to remain healthy.

    “We have set a one billion dollar target and we believe that we can achieve it. Growing up as kids, we read a lot of inspirational books and we developed the right mindset which has helped us achieve our dreams and we believe that it will also help us do great things with this idea. We have an idea of a bucket list which we and our partners will look at from time to time, to see if we have achieved these things.  We can do a lot with marketing made in Nigeria products.

    The world is returning to the natural things and we have hundreds of plants in Nigeria that is world will marvel at. We have plants that can prevent and treat diseases. There is so many things that God blessed us with. But we want to use made in America and China, rather than selling our own naturally given plants and food.”

  • Use recovered funds to create jobs, Fed Govt told

    Use recovered funds to create jobs, Fed Govt told

    President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to use part of the funds recovered from looters for job creation to  bridge the unemployment gap.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliates were also asked to protect workers against  retrenchment.

    These were views expressed at a retreat by the NLC in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

    The NLC resolved to review its position presented at the 2009 Tripartite National Employment Summit organised by the Federal Government with technical support from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

    A communiqué signed by NLC President Comrade Ayuba Wabba and General Secretary, Comrade Peter Ozo-Esson, said Labour’s position should reflect the final report of the summit, which stated that four to five million jobs would be created yearly between then and 2020; and the campaign promise of the APC government to create three million jobs yearly.

    It reads: “The retreat resolved to support the determination of the current leadership of congress under Comrade Ayuba Wabba to build a firm coalition of Nigerians for good governance. In this direction, the retreat endorsed the decision of the national leadership of congress to declare September 10, 2015 as a Day of Solidarity Protest Action against the incidences of escalating corruption in our public life, as well as protest against the high cost of governance in this country.

    “The retreat further resolved to call on all stakeholders in the Nigerian project to join the NLC and its allies to massively turn out on this day, and send a clear message to our political elite that Nigerians would not continue to allow very few greedy and unpatriotic members of the ruling elite to continue with the high level of corruption in our country, as well as the unsustainable high cost of governance, with a huge amount of our earnings going to pay the wages and allowances of political office holders, to the detriment of developmental projects, and developmental aspirations of the vast majority of our citizens.”

  • Kogi jobs plan takes off

    Kogi jobs plan takes off

    A new employment effort has started in Kogi State to complement earlier ones, the aim being to thin down the ever bustling crowd of the jobless. The latest measure, a partnership with South Korea, is called Nigeria-Korea Friendship Institute of Vocational and Advanced Technology (NKFI). It is located in Lokoja, the state capital.

    The project, in the works since 2013, has now taken off and will admit trainees in various skills.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Projects, Alfa Ibn Mustapha stressed the need for government to boost technological education as a means of reducing rising unemployment. He lamented the high rate of joblessnes, stressing that the only solution is to get the teeming youths to embrace vocational training.

    Mustapha who commended Governor Idris Wada on the skill acquisition centre, said it will go a long way in preparing youths for self-sustenance. He said the National Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) will be involved in the certification of its students.

    •One of the workshops
    •One of the workshops

    The centre has such departments as Automobile Engineering; Electrical/Electronics; Welding and Fabrication; and Internet Computer Technology, Metal Fabrication, Car Spraying and Diagnosis. Plumbing will be added later.

    Okewu Aroma Gabriel, Principal of the institute said the NKFI will be a fee-paying school, but not beyond the reach of the poor who the government is out to cater to in the first place.

    According to him, “The state government saw that there was every need to provide vocational skills for the people of Kogi State, not only the youths but also the employed and unemployed Kogites to be self-reliant and responsible to themselves and to the society at

    large”.

    He explained that funding is through Public Private Partnership (PPP), stating that the Governor has fully met all the obligations on the part of the state government in the form of its counterpart funding.

    He further explained the extent of the involvement of the Korean government, through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), which is responsible for International projects, part of which is the training of the 13 existing staff at the Daelin University College, South Korea.

    He said, “The existing staff, both management and teaching instructors, were all trained in South Korea. There are eight instructors and five management staff. We were all trained at the Daelin University College in South Korea.

    “The instructors first went on a three-month programme at the university college in 2012. In July 2014, another enhancement training of one month was also undertaken, led by Professor Lee Youy Geol.

    Besides that, Korean experts have been in and out of the state for enhancement training of both the management and the teaching staff”.

    Though not forthcoming on the exact figure of the number of people that will be employed by the institute when fully operational, this reporter sighted over 15 low cadre staff while on the premises, many of who were either engaged as cleaners or gardeners, while another two was later sited at the 800KVA power generator house.

    Facilities on the premises, including a kitchenette, dining rooms, stores, guard houses, are pointers that the institute will take on more hands when fully in operation.

    One of the instructors, Mr. Ada Amorley, of the Automobile Engineering Department said the aim was for them to train students to acquire skills to become responsible and useful citizens.

    “The idea is for us to train our prospective students in the area of skill acquisition so that when they come out it is either they are employed or be self-employed,” he said.

    The instructors look to introduce more refresher courses when the Korean experts hand over to them in about one month after the commissioning.

    The Registrar, Omada Eneojo envisages that five years’ time, over 50 percent of unemployed Kogi youths would have been taken off the streets and become gainfully engaged as a result of the establishment of the institute.

    His words: “This system of education in South Korea, both the educated and non-educated benefit from this type of training, and this I must say has added enormous value to their way of life. This, we are determined to replicate locally for the overall benefit of our

    people”.

    The hand-over/commissioning ceremony of the NKFI will be performed by the State Governor, Capt. Idris Wada, supported by the Ambassador of the Republic of South Korea Mr. NOH Kyu-duk, as contained in a statement issued by Mr. Jacob Edi, Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy.

    The event he said will be jointly organized by the Kogi State Government, KOICA Nigeria Office and the National Planning Commission (NPC). The institute, the only one of its kind in the country, he said is part of the flowers of the governor’s transformation agenda for the state.

    “It is therefore strategically located on the campus of the Kogi State Polytechnic Lokoja, to meet the dream of its initiators, he added.”

    He called on the youths of the state to take the advantages that will be provided by the institute to improve themselves economically.