The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has empowered 29,056 youths and women in Imo under various skill acquisition and empowerment programmes.
Dr Nasir Ladan-Mohammed, Director General (DG) of NDE said this to newsmen on Thursday in Owerri while reviewing the activities of the directorate between August and November 2020.
The DG who was represented by the coordinator of NDE in IMO, Mrs Ngozi Iheanacho, said the directorate, under the Graduate Attachment Programme (GAP) of its Special Public Works (SPW) department, recruited 66 graduates of tertiary institutions.
Ladan-Mohammed added that the beneficiaries were posted to partnering organisations drawn from both the private and public sectors and paid stipends for a period of three months.
READ ALSO :UAE Celebrates Cooperation with Nigeria as it Marks 49th Anniversary
He said the Vocational Skills Development (VSD) department of the directorate empowered 1,890 youths under its Basic National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (B-NOAS).
According to him, the beneficiaries are currently undergoing training in various crafts ranging from bead making to painting among others.
The NDE helmsman further said the Rural Employment Promotions (REP) department recruited and trained 100 youths and women on sustainable agriculture and gave them stipends to kick-start their operations.
“In the last four months, we have empowered Nigerian youths in their numbers and equipped them with various skills and crafts as well as with start-up packages.
“It is worthy of note that in addition to these interventionist programmes, the NDE is also the implementation agency for the federal government’s 774,000 Special Public Works jobs.
“Here in Imo, 27, 000 participants have been recruited, 1000 from each Local Government Area (LGA),” he said.
He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the people-friendly programmes of his administration and pledged the NDE’s continued commitment to the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities.