Unemployment: Forty One Thousand Youths Under-Going Skill Acquisition Training

By Chinedu Echianu

The Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Silas Ali Agara, has reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to tackling unemployment and reducing poverty across Nigeria through innovative skill acquisition and empowerment programmes.

Agara made this known in a goodwill message delivered at the Annual Conference of the Labour Correspondents’ Association of Nigeria (LACAN), held in Abuja.

Highlighting the NDE’s statutory mandate, Agara explained that the Directorate was established under the NDE Act (CAP 250 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) to design and implement programmes aimed at combating mass unemployment and promoting self-reliance among citizens.

According to him, the NDE operates through four core programmes: Vocational Skills Development (VSD), Small Scale Enterprises (SSE), Rural Employment Promotion (REP), and Special Public Works (SPW).

Under the Vocational Skills Development programme, he listed schemes such as the Basic and Advanced National Open Apprenticeship Schemes (BNOAS/ANOAS), Community-Based Training Scheme (CBTS), and School-on-Wheels (SOW), which train thousands of youths in diverse trades.

In the area of Small Scale Enterprises, Agara noted that the Directorate runs initiatives like Start Your Own Business (SYOB), Basic Business Training (BBT), and the Women Empowerment Branch (WEB) to promote entrepreneurship.

He added that through the Rural Employment Promotion programme, the NDE has developed agricultural training initiatives such as the Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS), Fish Farming Production Training Scheme (FFPTS), and Organic Agricultural Training Scheme (OATS).

The Special Public Works programme, he said, includes schemes such as the Graduate Attachment Programme (GAP), Environmental Beautification Training Scheme (EBTS), Solar Energy Training Scheme (SETS), and the Artisans in Collaborative Construction Scheme (ACCES).

Agara revealed that in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the NDE trained over 33,886 Nigerian youths in demand-driven skills and resettled 4,683 trainees with loans and starter packs between the third and fourth quarters of 2024.

He added that another 41,307 youths are currently undergoing training in the second phase of the Renewed Hope Empowerment Initiative (RHEI) across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The NDE boss assured Nigerians of the agency’s unwavering commitment to reducing unemployment and poverty to the barest minimum, describing it as a national necessity.

Agara also commended LACAN for its continued support and partnership with the Directorate, emphasizing that the media’s role remains crucial in promoting government programmes and fostering national development.

“We value your friendship and contributions to our success over the years,” he said, expressing gratitude to the association for its consistent collaboration.