The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) is a Federal Government Skill Acquisition and Empowerment Agency with the mandate to organise free skill acquisition training for the unemployed Nigerians, establish them with equipment and a grant to make them self-reliant, and employers of labour.
The agency in Rivers State under the leadership of Chief Napoleon Amachree organised a two-week programme in Port Harcourt, the state capital to train women on how to use adire (batik), fabrics and other local materials to design women shoes, hand bags, purses, hats among others.
The programme took place in a church around the popular Mile One market and was well-embraced by women. The NDE official who coordinated the programme, Mrs. Silvia Dakuru, said the training was meant to reduce poverty among women.
The Assistant Chief Enterprise Development Officer, (women employment branch desk officer), said: “The NDE set up this branch especially to train and empower women to assure their economic freedom, to reduce poverty in the Country, and above all to make them self- reliant and employers of labour.
“They are trained in diverse trade, like interior decoration, cake baking, tailoring/fashion design, catering, bead, hat, shoe and bag making using locally sourced raw materials among others.
“The essence of these training for women is basically to assist them and their families, to improve the quality of their lives. Before we finally conclude this training, we are also going to take them on entrepreneurship, to enable them manage the business of the skill they have acquired effectively.
“This aspect of training will guide them on how they can start off the business on the trade they have been impacted on, establish cordial relationship with the customers/clients, how to cost their products, market them to gain more patronage, while being mindful of their capital and profit to enable them grow the business to become employers of labour.”
It was the first time NDE trained people on using local fabrics (batik materials) to make bags, shoes and hats.
Mrs. Gbarimalaa advised women to take up a trade to sustain their marriages.
She said: “Women are help mates to their husbands. The agency is not going to re-settle most of them, but they preferred to be with a trade and wait for help from God knows where and when, than to go back home the way they came.”
The state Co-ordinator of the programme, Napoleon Amachree, said less than an average of the participants would be re-settled by the agency.
He said: “NDE will re-settle only the number originally planned for in the programme, the rest of the participants can wait for individuals, private bodies who can either partner with us to provide them with start-off packs or do it in their own way.”
Sopretee Martins, a mother of six, from Bile in Degema Local Government Area of the state, expressed gratitude to the government through the NDE for creating the environment for the jobless citizens.
