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Tag: unemployed

  • Fadama lll trains 300 unemployed graduates in Ondo

    The Fadama lll Additional Financing Project has trained no fewer than 300 unemployed graduates in Ondo State to acquire vocational skills in agricultural enterprises.

    Mr Olusiji Olatunji, the state Project Coordinator, disclosed this at the opening ceremony of the programme at the Federal University of Technology (FUTA) in Akure on Monday.

    He said the exercise would run for two weeks in three centres across the state.

    Olatunji said that the higher institutions selected for the programme were FUTA, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, and Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko.

    The coordinator said that the training programme was initiated by the Federal Government through the Fadama Graduate Unemployed Youth Support (Fadama GUYS) programme.

    “The training aims to empower unemployed young graduates in Nigeria by making them self-reliant and employers of labour.

    “Leaving these youths unattended to will give them opportunity to dissipate their energy in all forms of menace and social vices like drug trafficking, robbery, internet fraud and cultism, “he said.

    He said that government’s efforts to stem the spate of unemployment among the youths would go a long way in ameliorating the tense situation in the labour market.

    “Each beneficiary will be trained; taught to write a business plan on choice enterprise and given a starter pack of about N1 million as grant,” he said.

    Mr Akin Olotu, Senior Special Adviser on Agriculture in Ondo State said the state government was committed to the transformation of the agriculture sector.

    Olotu said Governor Rotimi Akeredolu was committed to making agriculture more attractive to the teeming youths in the state.

    “We are reviving the agriculture sector in the state through the engagement and participation of youths to take over from aged persons by making it attractive.

    “We are not thinking of production alone but rather thinking of the entire value chain, processor, marketing and agro entrepreneurship,” he said.

    According to him, if agriculture is made attractive, it will create jobs and produce raw materials for the agro-industry.

    Two beneficiaries, Mr Kolawole Samuel and Miss Busayo Adeyeye, said the training would help them to plan for their future and be self-employed

     

  • NDE begins online registration of unemployed persons

    NDE begins online registration of unemployed persons

    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has begun the online registration of unemployed persons.

    The purpose of the exercise is to develop a database of unemployed persons and provide scientific evidence on the character, nature and trends of unemployment.

    NDE Acting Director-General, Kunle Obayan,  represented by the Deputy Director, Information and Public Relations,Edmund Onwuliri, said in Abuja that the exercise was part of the directorate’s mandate of designing skill sets to suit various types of unemployed persons.

    He said the framework for the online registration, handled by the directorate, has been completed and ready for launch.

    “The online portal, which went live last week, is designed to capture the relevant details of every unemployed person. It will equally serve as a job exchange portal that will link job seekers and employers, he said.”

    He said there was a practical demonstration of the workings of the portal at the NDE stand at the  28th edition of the Enugu International Trade Fair, adding that the portal could be accessed on: www.jobsforall.ng.

    Onwuliri explained that the directorate saw the initiative as a bold step towards deepening the effectiveness of its employment creation strategies and critical input into the process of designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating programmes and schemes adding that the online portal would serve as meeting point for job seekers and employers, thereby reducing the cumbersome process of recruitment among employers of skilled labour in the private and public sectors.

    In a related development, the Obayan said the NDE has, over a period of one year, trained 15,343 persons in vocational, agricultural and entrepreneurial skills.

    Speaking  at the  NDE special day  of the Enugu International Trade Fair, Obayan said: “We have reasons to rejoice in the strength of our four core programmes, namely: Vocational Skills Development (VSD), Small Scale Enterprises (SSE), Rural Employment Promotion (REP) and Special Public Works (SPW) Programmes.”

    He said the faithful implementation of the directorate‘s employment creation programmes had, to a reasonable extent, reduced the level of despair and disillusionment associated with unemployment in Nigeria.

    “The realities of economic recession and evidences of breakthroughs emanating from self-employment initiatives have reinforced our belief in the efficacy of skills acquisition training, which globally, has demystified the seemingly intractable challenges of unemployment and poverty,’’ he said.

    To further deepen the effectiveness of its employment creation strategies, according to Obayan, the NDE after completing the framework for the online registration of unemployed persons in Nigeria had commenced the actual registration of the unemployed nationwide.

    “I am glad to announce that a work-station is functional at the NDE stand at this fair from where any unemployed person can register. Other Nigerians can avail themselves of this service by logging on to www.jobsforall.ng.

    Obayan said the NDE considered this as a very critical input into its process of designing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all programmes and schemes.

    “Unemployed Nigerians are expected to register on the portal, which has the capacity to serve a job exchange linking employers and job seekers having fully been hosted,” he said.

  • Kogi empowers 2,500 unemployed youths in vocational skills

    The Kogi State government has empowered 2,500 unemployed youths through its Basic Skill Acquisition and Vocational Training Programme.

    The empowerment programme, which began February 9, was held in the three senatorial districts.

    Speaking at the weekend, at the completion of the final phase in Anyigba, Governor Yahaya Bello’s Special Adviser on Job Creation and SMEs Development, Prince Abdulkareem Onyekehi Suleiman, expressed satisfaction with the programme, attributing its success to Bello’s commitment to raising successful entrepreneurs.

    He said government would help certified participants to start up their businesses.

    “Besides the knowledge acquired by the participants, the government, in partnership with Coolink Integrated Services Ltd, will secure loans for them to start up their businesses.

    “Meanwhile, Governor Bello has approved the sponsorship of 10 participants to the United States of America for advanced entrepreneurship development at the upcoming African Global Economic Development Summit in Los Angeles, between March 16 and 18, Suleiman said.

  • Group to train 5m unemployed youths

    A group has indicated interest to train about five million unemployed youths across the country on different skills.

    The group, in collaboration with No Burn Global Limited, made their intention known in Abuja at a press briefing.

    Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), No Burns Global, Umana Umana, stated that they had already begun by giving some graduate youths automatic employment in the programme.

    He said they had identified 34 skills and contacted strategic partners who would train the youths, adding that the company would provide seed grants to trainees on completion.

    Umana, who condemned the level of idleness prevalent in the country, criticised the Federal Government’s N5,000 scheme.

    His words: “We are ready to empower anybody. We estimate that in the next six months, we are going to be touching the lives of five million Nigerians. We are calling on all youths that are not employed to come and we will train them to acquire skills.

    “We have set aside various schemes for the youths. We have already begun by giving some graduate youths automatic employment in our programme. We are giving the opportunity for every unemployed graduate to be employed by making it possible for them to have jobs that give them satisfaction and those without qualifications will be trained to acquire skills of their own to enable them be self- employed.

    “The skills range from mechanics, driving, pipeline welding, tie and dye, hairdressing, event management and so on. We have listed 34 skills and contracted people we call strategic partners. We are not the ones training; we contract people to do the trainings in different states”.

  • Unemployed youths likely to suffer depression — Psychiatrist

    Unemployed youths likely to suffer depression — Psychiatrist

    A Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Abiodun Adewuya, says unemployed youths in the country are likely to find themselves in a state of depression due to low self-esteem.

    Adewuya, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

    “An unemployed youth is likely to be one, who, when he wakes up in the morning there is nowhere to go.

    “So, the first thing that will be affected will be his motivation.

    “When an unemployed youth has a reduced motivation, what you are likely to have is a reduced self-esteem.

    “So, when you have someone, who has a reduced motivation, leading to reduced self-esteem, these will have a link to reduced interaction, reduction in social lifestyle automatically it leads to depressed mood.

    “Another one will be that for someone, who went to school, studied, got a degree and has not been able to get a job for quite a while, what you expect is a serious disappointment, not just in himself.

    “He can be disappointed in either himself, his family or the society; it will automatically lead to low mood, which can be depression or it can lead him to react negatively against these disappointments.

    “But it is very clear that more than half of people that finish from school stay at home for at least one year before getting any paid job.’’

    The consultant, therefore, spoke of the need for government at all levels to meaningfully engage young people by creating employment opportunities.

    “I think there should be an enabling environment for companies to grow and develop; without that, there will be nowhere to employ people.

    “It is in production lines that you need people to get employed; if you have 10 companies, each of the company will employ 20 people, which means 200 people are already employed.

    “So, you need to have an enabling environment to actually expand the number of companies that invest in Nigeria.

    “How do you do that? You fix the electricity, fix the roads, basic things, you can be so sure that companies will come.

    “So, have a centralised system that everybody can submit their CVs to; we need a strong employment directorate.

    “I do not think we all need to have certificates to work; what I think is that, we should shift our education from basic university base to technical base, which means real handiwork.

    “If you are trying to be a chemical engineer, you must have worked in that field; that is what we really need so that we will not just produce people with certificates who have nothing to do.’’(NAN)

  • 1,070 unemployed Benue graduates participate in ICT workshop

    1,070 unemployed Benue graduates participate in ICT workshop

    One thousand and seventy unemployed graduates in Benue State today enrolled for the two-day ICT online job training workshop which commenced at the New Banquet Hall of the Benue Peoples House, in Makurdi.

    Many of them also registered on an online job search portal to explore job search opportunities on the site.

    The workshop was organized by the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Benue State Government.

    Addressing participants, leader of the resource persons and representative of the Director of e-government in the ministry, Mr. Macdonald Ekworo stated that the initiative was to deploy the ICT platform to provide jobs to the unemployed graduates with ICT skills.

    He said the workshop was intended to expose the graduates to on-line job opportunities which they could exploit and become gainfully employed.

    According to him the partnership between the state and the Federal Government with the Rockefeller Foundation underscored the need for public private partnership which has become an imperative best international standard practice.

    Also speaking, representative of the Rockefeller Foundation, Mr. Femi Kayode inspired participants with a motivational address and encouraged them to explore online opportunities in advertising, marketing, administrative support, web designing and programming as well as writing in various fields.

    The participants were later divided into groups an allocated work stations on which many registered online realtime.

    Special Adviser on Media and ICT, Mr. Tahav Agerzua, commended both the resource persons and participants for the enthusiasm exhibited at the workshop.

    He said it also provided an opportunity for the state government to begin the development of a database for ICT compliant unemployed graduates which would in planning for their empowerment.

    The adviser appealed to those who participated in the workshop today not to turn up tomorrow but to allow others scheduled for the day to benefit from the exercise.

    He however assured that they would be contacted with information on the next step very soon.

    The workshop continues tomorrow at 8am at the Benue Peoples House.

  • FG empowers unemployed graduates in Lagos

    FG empowers unemployed graduates in Lagos

    The Federal Ministry of Finance has empowered no fewer than 100 unemployed graduates under its Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) programme in Lagos State.

    The three-day training was held between December 7 and 9 at the NECA building Alausa, Ikeja.

    The director of the scheme, Mr Peter Papka, in his speech delivered by his representative, John Umoren, said: “The orientation and employability training are meant for the graduate interns but we have deliberately included partnering firms and organizations as part of government’s commitment in contributing to enhancement of their capacity in service  effectiveness, especially through staff assessment\development through structured mentorship and other critical lines which are necessary for growth of any firm and organization. It also provides an opportunity to share with other partners and interns on workplace and performance and how to optimize on the benefits of the scheme.”

    The objective, according to him, is to: “Enable interns optimize their internship period by developing useful skills and positive work habit. It is also aimed at providing an opportunity share experiences with other participants, including partner representatives on opportunities and challenges in the work place. Another aim of the programme is to expose participants to opportunities for life after internship and to contribute to service delivery and performance of partners.”

    He added: “The key outcome of these trainings has been the enthusiasm with which they were received as almost all inters admitted that this was the first formal training they are receiving on workplace and work life and it has added value to their lives.  They also admitted a clear and present opportunity of GIS  provides for them to chart the course of their future. Many interns are beginning to jettison the idea of waiting for a job from government as some are venturing into entrepreneurship.”

  • Ortom promises jobs for unemployed graduates

    Ortom promises jobs for unemployed graduates

    Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has promised to provide jobs for all the unemployed graduates idling away in the state.

    The state, he said, has a lot of young people willing to further their education, but are unfortunate not to have jobs after graduation.

    He urged the executive secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Prof Suleiman Bogoro, to invest more in the state and promised to use the investments judiciously.

    He said this in Abuja when he visited the executive secretary.

    “I want to assure you that whatever you have invested in my state, we will make judicious use of them under my watch,” he said.

    He added that the government is training youths from primary to tertiary levels to go into agriculture to ensure that the state remains  the food basket of the nation.

    Ortom said: “We have a lot of young men willing to further their education. The opportunities are there; people are enthusiastic although there are no jobs. We believe that during my time, I will create jobs because my main objective is to ensure that we generate enough jobs, create wealth and opportunities for our people.  All those people idling away after graduation, I believe that they will soon find jobs.

    “Agriculture is one of my five pillars – just like education – that we are set to achieve within four years of our tenure. We are looking at training and equipping our young ones and to practically move into agriculture. We want to really represent Nigeria as the food basket of the nation and our dream is not only to be the food basket of the nation but of Africa.”

    Responding, Bogoro urged the tertiary institutions in the state to use TETFund grants to boost agricultural development.

    “The state universities and College of Agriculture should continue to compete in the aspect of research collaboration in agricultural development in the state and we will be able to legitimately put money there from TETFund,” he said.

     

  • Delta launches data base of unemployed youths

    Delta launches data base of unemployed youths

    Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has identified lack of statistics and data base of unemployed youths in the state as one of the factors mitigating against effective job creation initiatives and past youth empowerment programmes in the state.

    To address the challenge, the governor disclosed that the state government has launched a database of unemployed youths in the state through the job and wealth creation scheme, which promises to keep the youths off the streets.

    He said the database would provide a steady feed of participants for the programme and also enable the government in planning for its future and those of the youths..

    “By the next six months when the next phase begins, we will simply pull out the next set of participants from the database, so, there is opportunity for as many as are qualified to be enlisted in subsequent phases of the scheme.”

    The governor spoke at the Songhai-Delta, Amukpe in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State, on Wednesday, August 26, he flagged off the training of1,645 young men and women who were part of the agricultural programme of the state government.

    The gathering included young school leavers, graduates and others who are among a batch of 6,000 youths targeted in one of the state government wealth creation programme tagged Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP) and Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP).

    The  STEP and YAGEP are part of the programmes aimed  at taking teeming youths off the street. It is also aimed at the  fulfillment of the State Governor, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Okowa campaign slogan tagged ‘Prosperity for all Deltans’.

    The governor, while flagging of the programme, explained that the scheme was being executed in phases, adding that the introduction of the scheme has enabled the state government to develop a database of the unemployed in the State.

    He explained that with the performance of the participants, who had been on a week-long orientation course, he was confident that the programme was headed in the right directions. He said all the programmes were strategically designed, stringently planned and specifically tailored to tackle the problem of youth unemployment and produce lasting and sustainable prosperity across in the state.

    He said that his administration had adopted the Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) model which is the best way to tackle youth unemployment, because job and wealth creation are the bedrock of his “S.M.A.R.T” agenda.

    The Governor who was flanked by his deputy, Deacon Kingsley Otuaro,a lawyer,  said that the Wednesday’s event is the latest part of his effort to bring prosperity to the state, industrialize it through the YAGEP and STEP initiative which was one of his electioneers promises to Deltans.

    “Today’s event is undeniable proof that our administration’s S.M.A.R.T agenda is well and truly on course; it goes without saying that job and wealth creation are the bedrock of the S.M.A.R.T agenda, with YAGEP and STEP as the flagship programmes and other programmes under the Job and Wealth Creation Scheme are Production and Processing Support Programme (PPSP), Development of Agro-Industries, and Extension of Microcredit,” he added.

    Speaking on the prospect of the scheme, Governor Okowa said that while previous programmes sought to prepare people for employment, the Job and Wealth Creation Scheme seeks to produce wealth creators and job creators adding that critical differences also exist in the selection and screening process, training approach, management system, and collaboration with the organised private sector”.

    He maintained that the scheme is not the typical empowerment programme that is often cash based; “it is a wealth and job creation scheme, it is not about skills acquisition; it is about building a knowledge economy and the overarching goal is to equip participants with the technical know-how, vocational/technical skills, values and resources to become self-employed and employers of labour.”

    Giving statistic of how MSMEs have been faring in the country, Governor Okowa said that more than 90 per cent of businesses in Nigeria employ less than one hundred persons which put them in Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) category, adding that that was a sector that can get most of Nigerian youths off the street.

    “By definition, MSMEs are companies that employ less than 250 persons and available statistics indicate that 97% of all businesses in Nigeria employ less than 100 persons and they account for about 50% of Nigeria’s productive workforce and 46.54% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”.

    While congratulating the participants at the orientation course, Governor Okowa said; “while multinational companies and big corporations get all the public attention and acclaim for their capacity to induce foreign investment capital, MSMEs remain the backbone for economic growth and social development in any society.”

    Earlier, the Commissioner for Economic Planning in the state, Hon. Kingsley Emu in a welcome address said, the participants’ spirit are high and assured that at the end of the day, they will surpass the governor’s expectations.

    Speaking in the same vein, the Sole Administrator of Songhai-Delta Dr Theophilus Okpidi in an address, thanked Governor Okowa for revamping the centre, adding, “I salute your courage and pray that God will make ways for you and direct your steps towards the actualization of the job and wealth creation scheme for the benefits of Deltans.”

    He appealed to the governor and the state government to put in more into the strategic agriculture farm settlement and its facility, which is structure along the line of the famous Soghai in Port Novo, Republic of Benin.

    In his address, the Chief Job Creation officer in the state, Prof. Eric Eboh disclosed that one thousand, six hundred and forty-five youths were been trained in the ongoing exercise. He thanked Governor Okowa for initiating the programme that will make the youths entrepreneurs.

    Speaking with Niger Delta Report, one of the beneficiaries, Karen Arubayi, expressed gratitude to the governor for the opportunity to be among the first trainee of the YEGAP AND STEP programmes, enthusing that the training module and syllabus would ensure that the state government get the best out of it.

    “Yes, it is strenuous, rigorous  and very tasking, but that is because nothing good comes easy. I am very excited about this opportunity and the prospect that awaits at the end and I am determined to put in my best to ensure that I do not waste my time and the government’s resources,” she added.

    Other participants expressed similar feelings, with some particularly happy that they are given opportunity to give feedback as well as to access and assess their instructor on their performances and teaching.

    Side attractions at the event included cultural displays, matchpass and presentation of Certificate of Honour on the governor by the National Association of Nigerian Students.

    Guests included the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Festus Agas, the Commissione for Science and Technology, Hon Joyce Overah,  his Commerce and Industry counterpart, Mrs Mary Iyasere, Senator Emmanuel Aghariavwodo and Chief Peter Asagba

    Begin forwarded message:

    Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (middle), his Deputy, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro (left) and the Commissioner for Economic Planning, Dr. Kingsley Emu during the flag-off  of the Delta State youth skill acquisition training programme at Amukpe, Sapele, Delta

     

     

  • Group stages solidarity rally for unemployed

    The Joint Action Front (JAF), last week, kicked off a mass rally in solidarity with millions of unemployed Nigerians.

    JAF in a statement signed by its President,  Dr Oladipo Fashina, said: “JAF declares its solidarity with all categories of unemployed Nigerians, who are more than 50 million across the country. The working and oppressed people of Nigeria demand the right to jobs and employment opportunities irrespective of sex, ethnic or religious background”.

    He said  JAF position on the tragic incident of the death of scores of applicants during the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) job recruitment exercises of March 15th 2014 is that governments at all levels , irrespective of political parties, are culpable because they failed to provide decent jobs and enabling opportunities for gainful employments.

    “All the governments in the country are subscribed to the anti-poor neo-liberal capitalist agenda, which create the conditions for unemployment, closure of industries, dependence on imported products including fuel, job insecurity, under-employment, cheap and slave labour, casualisation, poor wages and anti-workers policies.

    “For instance, the privatisation of electricity with the attendant outage and high tariffs, and the outrageous taxes imposed by both state and local governments, have made life very difficult for artisans and small business owners and some of them have been forced out of business. The same anti-poor agenda accounts for the ban of Okada/ Achaba by state governments who do not create alternative decent jobs for the youths and unemployed, hence the increasing rate of the army of unemployed estimated at final about two million annually,” he said.

    He said that it is possible to create massive jobs with living wage for all Nigerians, given the fact that many critical sectors like education, health care, agriculture, housing, infrastructure,  are short of adequate personnel and require massive expansion to meet the growing needs of the population.

    He said the crisis of unemployment in Nigeria is such that the decadent capitalist economic agenda of successive regimes cannot resolve it.

    “It is only a socialist transformation of the Nigerian polity that can guarantee such massive jobs and employment creating opportunities that would make it possible  for ALL Nigerians to have access to education, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, industrialisation, energy, social welfare,” he said.