The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has trained 96,000 youths and women in various skills from January 2018 to date, the Director-General, Malam Abubakar Nuhu-Fikpo, disclosed in Kaduna.
He said a 13,000 graduate trainees in cosmetology have been resettled with basic equipment and start-up capital, adding that the directorate is desirous of resettling more graduate trainees as soon as funds are made available by government.
Represented by the Kaduna State NDE State Coordinator, Sani Maiwada, the DG said the directorate has collaborated with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Agriculture, Small, and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGMEIS) to access start-up capital for many of its trained beneficiaries.
“Five thousand trained persons in agricultural skills per state would be able to access loan packages from CBN,” he said, adding that the directorate was playing a vital role in the skills for jobs component of the Youths Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO).
The DG urged unemployed youths to make use of the opportunities available through the programmes and activities of the NDE to create jobs for themselves and other Nigerians so as to be self-independent.