Abuja, Jan. 17, 2023 – The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) says it has disbursed N85 million in loans to 494 beneficiaries under its Environmental Beautification Training Scheme (EBTS).
Its Director-General, Abubakar Fikpo, said this on Monday, adding that the loan disbursement was being done under the Special Public Works Programme.
He said the facility, comprising basic work tools and cash components, would be disbursed to the graduate trainees from the country’s six geo-political zones.
Fikpo said the directorate, in November 2022, concluded three months of EBTS skills training for 1,110 unemployed youths in the 36 states and the FCT, Abuja, at 30 participants per state.
“The agency had planned to empower 962 graduated trainees of the 1,110 participants, but could only resettle 494 due to budgetary constraints.
“The other 470 graduate trainees will be empowered at a future date.
“The objective of the loan is to create jobs, especially self-employment, for the trained participants and help them become self-reliant,” he said.
Fikpo said the mandate of the directorate is to fight mass unemployment in the country by creating jobs through skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development.
He promised that the NDE would not stop at training willing Nigerians, but would also ensure that the trained participants are well established and were out of unemployment.
Ms Olaomi Silvia, the Director of the Special Public Works Programme (SPWP), said the empowerment would cover 19 states in the six geo-political zones
She said 26 persons per state would benefit from phase one of the programme based on the 50 per cent budget released.
According to her, EBTS is one of the popular schemes of the SPWP of the NDE.
“It is designed to train unemployed persons to acquire professional skills in environmental beautification, sanitation and protection of the environment.
“The concept also includes beautification of streets, construction of parks and gardens, tree planting, production of blocks, interlocking stones, tiling works and Plaster of Paris,” she said. (GBN)
