The Unemployed Youth Association of Nigeria (UYAN), has commended the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) for its landmark achievement over job creation for the jobless Nigerians.
The commendation was given at the NDE headquarters in Abuja recently when the Association paid a courtesy visit to the Director –General of the NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo and members of the Executive Management in his office.
According to the President of UYAN, Comrade Casmir Irekamba, who recently became the President of the Association, NDE over the years has created blue collar jobs for many hitherto unemployed youths in the country.
He said NDE, especially in the last three years under the leadership of Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, has moved many lives especially youths and women groups from poverty towards skills acquisition development and decent jobs. ‘The evidence are everywhere’
Irekamba lamented that the Federal Government over the years, has not funded NDE adequately to match job creation determination of the NDE chief Executive.
He therefore called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to improve on the budgetary allocations to the NDE in realisation of the goals of the Renewed Hope Agenda. He also appealed to the NDE Management to extend its collaboration window of the Directorate to UYAN to further train and empower more Nigerians for decent job opportunities.
Reacting, the Director-General appreciated the Association for tracking the achievement of the Directorate over the years, NDE, he said, was established over thirty five years ago mainly to combat mass unemployment through skills acquisition training, entrepreneurship development, agricultural promotion and public works.
The Director-General charged the Association to engage in advocacy exercise to mobilise the Nigerian youths towards blue collar jobs and assist them to develop interest in skills acquisition for a better future.
‘Paper Certificates without skills in Nigeria today is an invitation to poverty and chaos. Our youths should be well orientated on the benefits of skills acquisition and self-reliance’.
He further appealed to the jobless persons nationwide to avail themselves of the rare opportunity presented by the federal government through the NDE in the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.
The Director-General assured UYAN of good collaboration whenever communications and understanding are formalised between the two organizations. NDE, he said, was essentially established for the likes of UYAN.
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