By Sodiq Omolaoye,
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Barr Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has said plans were underway by the President Bola Tinubu led administration to launch a roadmap aimed at removing over 80 per cent of unemployed youth from the streets.
The minister challenged top managers at the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to buckle up for the task of combating unemployment in the country to the bare minimum.
The minister said the Nigerian government has vowed to address the pressing issue of unemployment, particularly among young people, with a renewed emphasis on the NDE.
Onyejeocha gave the assurance at the ongoing Lagos International Trade Fair, with this year’s theme: “Connecting Businesses, Creating Value” where she addressed trainees and beneficiaries of NDE.
Onyejeocha emphasised NDE’s crucial role in tackling unemployment through the agency’s efforts in providing skills training and entrepreneurship opportunities for young Nigerians.
Special Adviser, Media, to the minister, Emameh Gabriel, quoted Onyejeocha in a statement, Thursday, as urging managers at NDE to focus on combating unemployment without compromise, adding that “the president, my principal is really concerned about unemployment in the country.
According to her, the president is deeply concerned about the rising unemployment rate and has given a clear mandate to address this challenge effectively.
Noting that that though the country is going through unavoidable hard times, she assured that with time its fortune would be turned around for good.
She said: “I am not exaggerating. I have seen the heart of the president. I have seen the team he has assembled and I have seen their hearts and commitments. I have also seen the attitude of all his appointees. I want Nigerians to give us few time and there will a big turnaround.
“We do not have any reason to fail. We must work hard to change the narrative. We are coming up with policies and strategies that will remove 80 percent of unemployed people from the street.”
Onyejeocha promised that going forward, all trainees of the NDE must be empowered with reasonable starter pack that will take them off the street completely.
She said: “I am not going to engage in an empowerment programme that after training, you give the beneficiaries N50,000 or N20,000. Because when you do that, you are simply telling them to just eat their lunch and go to bed.
“When you train people, you train them because you want to change their lives for good. You train people because you are passionate and you want them to leave the street and lift them from poverty level. You don’t train people for political purpose.
“We must do what is right, in that way, you are connecting businesses and adding value.
“When I found myself in an environment where you have to oversee the National Directorate of Employment, I and said to myself, God you know why I am here. I know it’s your purpose for me to serve on what I am have passion for- providing jobs and empowering people, a thing I have been doing through my foundation in the last decades”.
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) echoed the government’s call for increased efforts to combat unemployment and poverty.
LCCI President/Chairman of Council, Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, expressed concern about the high poverty rate in the country, saying over 63 per cent of Nigerians are living below the poverty line.
He urged the NDE to continue its impactful work in skills development and entrepreneurship training to empower young Nigerians and contribute to economic growth.
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