The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) on Thursday in Lafia disbursed resettlement tools and equipment worth N1.5 million to 18 graduate trainees of vocational skills programme in Nasarawa State.
Mr Kunle Obayan, the Acting Director-General of NDE, who distributed the tools, said that the gesture was to enable the unemployed graduate trainees become self reliant and contribute their quota to national development.
Obayan, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Special Public Works, Mr Monday Dalyop, said that the Federal Government was planning to create employment opportunities for unskilled and unemployed Nigerians, hence the need for the gesture.
“NDE came into existence in 1986, saddled with the responsibilities of training people especially the youths and women in different skills acquisition programmes in the country in order to be self-reliant and to contribute their quota to national development.
“Today is significant to us in the NDE, in the sense that what we are witnessing was as a result of the Federal Government’s efforts toward tackling unemployment,” he said.
Obayan said that the same gesture would be extended by the Federal Government to states that are yet to benefit in order to fight unemployment, poverty and boost socio-economic development in the country.
Earlier, Alhaji Dauda Idris-Wase, the Nasarawa State Coordinator of NDE, said that the gesture would help reduce the high rate of unemployment in the state.
“The Agency is resettling 18 young men and women trained in welding, GSM repairs, computer operations, electrical installations, hair dressing, barbing, catering, tailoring, plumbing and pipe, interior decoration and shoe making in the state with soft loan.
“The repayment period of the loan is three years and six months, as the package is highly subsidised, so I charge you not to fail us, serve as good example and morale booster to those that may come after you,” Idris-Wase said.
