Youths in Bauchi state have lauded the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) for its renewed hope mass employment programme which has opened way for self-employment opportunities.
The commendation was made by a cross-session of youths who are beneficiaries of NDE’s various empowerment programmes in the state since the introduction of the scheme.
The Youths specifically commended the Director General of NDE, Silas Agara for coming up with such a ‘life-saving’ initiative which they said has impacted positively in their lives and future.
The Youths spoke differently on Tuesday when a training supervisor visited the centres where training was ongoing for inspection to see the progress of the programme.
One of the trainees, Muhibah Abdullahi, who is undergoing training in the fish production and feed formulation techniques scheme, said that the training has been far away from their expectations.
“Initially, we never thought it would be a well-organised, well-structured training as we are having. And, the resource persons we have here, are well-skilled and knowledgeable.
“We have learned a lot already under this scheme such as hatching, sorting, raring, and even smoking of fish.
“Even for feed formulation, we have been taken to some of the production companies and we have seen how they formulate the feeds and we have been given the explanation in detail.
“Words cannot express our appreciation for the Director General of NDE but we can only say thank you to him and the federal government for this training,” she said.
She, however, wished for the programme to be expanded beyond the period, so as to reach a large number of unemployed people across the country.
Just as she expressed gratitude to the NDE, she called on the Federal Government to help them with starter packs which would allow them to put what they have learned into practice.
Also, Musa Baraya, another trainee, commended the NDE for selecting them to be part of the training as well as imparting in them the necessary skills and techniques needed for fish production and feed formulation.
Barayan said, “I want to call on other trainees across the state to be focused and have the mindset of putting what they have learned into practice.
“I know we can’t do it by ourselves and that’s why I’m calling on NDE to help us with the necessary resources to help us put it into practice and also to become employers of labour.”
Also, a trainee under the community-based Agricultural training scheme of the NDE, Ahmed Jubrin, said that the trainers have been doing everything possible to ensure they learn all the farming skills.
According to him, they have been taught site selection techniques, cultivation, as well as plant monitoring among others saying, “All of us here are willing to go into agriculture and we are hoping to get capital to start our farming business.”
“Looking at the agriculture sector, it’s contributing a lot to the country’s economy and this is the right time that we need this agriculture for the whole nation’s growth,” he said.
In his reaction, a Supervisor from Rural Employment Promotion of the NDE Headquarters, Mohammed Gwaza, said the training was the modest short-term effort of NDE at checking the scourge of unemployment in Nigeria.
He explained that the move is part of the Director General’s commitment and President Bola Tinubu’s charge to overhaul the Directorate to reposition it for optimised employment creation.
He lauded the commitment, diligence, self-determination and punctuality of both the trainees and the trainers.
It could be recalled that NDE flagged off a three-month skills acquisition training for 2,156 youths on December 5, 2024, in Bauchi state.
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