Federal Government Launches New Nationwide Scheme to Fight Unemployment

In a bid to intensify its job creation efforts, the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of State for Labour and Employment has kickstarted a new empowerment programme that targets unskilled and unemployed persons across the country, stated Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment.

Starting in Delta state, the scheme will be managed by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), the go-to agency of the Federal Government concerning job creation.

According to a press statement made available to journalists in Abuja, the programmes will include skills training as well as empowerment in the vocational, agricultural, entrepreneurial and public works sectors.

The Minister of Labour also said that the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory will experience a mass increase in job creation due to the programme, adding that the landscape of unemployment in the country will undoubtedly be impacted positively by this new development.

He also said that the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari is not going to relent on its efforts to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty. According to the Minister, plans have been set up to execute the ESPW (Extend Special Public Works) within the 2022 budget year. This means that about 774,000 more unemployed people are set to be assisted.

Keyamo explained that in Delta alone, 684 Nigerians are already benefiting either from skills training or soft loan empowerment under the four core programmes of the NDE. He also said that some beneficiaries of the 774,000 jobs implemented by the Federal Government in 2019 have now become owners of micro-businesses due to the well-structured exit plans that have been implemented by the Federal Government through the Directorate of Employment.

He stated that some people criticised the programme, saying that the N60,000 being paid to beneficiaries was too small. Critics also argued that three months was too short a period of time to engage unemployed people. He, however, argued that apart from the immediate satisfaction provided by the stipends, the NDE provided several forms of business training and preparation in the form of exit plans from the programme.