Nigerian government targets 350,000 unemployed graduates in 2017.

The Presidency said on Sunday that its Social Investment Programmes, SIP, had a plan to hire 350,000 more unemployed graduates under the N-Power Volunteer Corps in 2017.

According to the Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, President Muhammadu Buhari has requested appropriation of N157.75 billion in the budget for the N-Power scheme.

He said that in addition to the 350,000 unemployed graduates to be hired and trained, 50,000 non-graduate youth would be engaged as artisans and in other creative ventures.

He said that from the allocation the administration had earmarked N4.5 billion for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, (STEM) programme to support young Nigerians in building skills in those disciplines.

Mr. Akande, who welcomed the great public enthusiasm the SIP programmes had so far generated, urged Nigerians to expect more this year especially in the area of implementation.

“While we were able to engage 200,000 unemployed graduates last year, we will do 350,000 more this year,” he assured.

Mr. Akande disclosed that about N75 billion was earmarked for the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme to provide one meal a day to five million primary school pupils.

He said that in 2016 the feeding programme covered about one million pupils.

Mr. Akande said the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme aimed at providing interest-free loans to up to 1.2million market men and women, traders, artisans, youths and farmers was allocated N112.2 billion.

He said: “2017 implementation of the SIP is going to be far more impactful than what we were able to do under the 2016 budget, so Nigerians should expect more this year.

“The resolve of the Buhari presidency is firm that more lives must be touched positively under these programmes which Nigerians have come to appreciate.”

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to actively take advantage of the different schemes this year.

 

Source: NAN

Job Creation: 200, 000 Selected Graduates to start work on December 1 – Presidency

200,000 Nigerians selected to start work as Teachers, Agric & Health Workers in their communities December 1

Names of successful first batch participants to be posted on N-Power Portal

ALL IS NOW SET FOR THE deployment of 200,000 unemployed graduates selected in the first batch of the Buhari administration’s plan to hire half a million Nigerians.

While the 200,000 have been selected about two weeks ago, their names have now been sent to state governments and the FCT who would deploy them to their specific programme assignments. The names would also be published this week on the N-Power internet portal, while the participants would start receiving SMS messages informing them of their selection as from Monday November 21, 2016.

State governments and the FCT are also encouraged to post the names of the successful first batch applicants in their local government areas while there would be further public announcements.

Between now and the end of the month, the states and the FCT would be engaged in deploying the graduates who would formally start working and earning their stipends on December 1, 2016.

Of the 200,000 first batch, 150,000 of them would teach, 30,000 would work in the Agric sector and 20,000 in Healthcare delivery covering the three specific programme assignments.

The N-Power Volunteer Corps is an expression of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to invest in the human capital development of Nigerian citizens, particularly our young people. The N-Power programmme is also an innovative means to enhance ailing public services in the area of basic education and primary healthcare. Also in the agric sector, it is aimed at achieving self-sufficiency by giving our farmers relevant advisory services.

The Federal Government of Nigeria hereby congratulates all 200,000 successful applicants in the first batch, and they are encouraged to take this opportunity seriously by learning the skills that will brighten their future. They are also implored to serve their communities with commitment and dedication.

For those who have not been selected at this time, there is a waiting list based on the total number of applicants, and subsequent batches will absorb more of the qualified applicants.

All together, the N-Power will engage and train 500,000 young unemployed graduates. It is a paid volunteering programme of a 2-year duration that engages graduates in their immediate communities, where they will assist in improving the inadequacies in the education, health, and agriculture sectors.

The 500,000 graduates under the N-Power Corps programme will be trained in skills that will enable them exit after two years to economically viable job and business opportunities.

As part of the programme, the participants would own tablets that will contain information necessary for their specific engagements, as well as information for their continuous training and developments.

Participants will be provided teaching, instructional, and advisory solutions in 4 main focus areas, and will be paid a monthly stipend of N30,000 during the programme. The 4 main focus areas are in basic education, agriculture extension services, public health and community education (civic and adult education).

Besides the N-Power programme for undergraduates, there are other schemes for non-graduates. These are: N-Power Knowledge, which would select 25,000 young Nigerians and N-Power Build 75,000, all of whom shall be trained and paid during the duration of the scheme.

Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity
In the Office of the Vice President
November 20, 2016

FG Votes N500bn For Unemployed Graduates, School Feeding

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday sent the Medium Term Expenditure Frame- work (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the National Assembly with N500 billion voted to pay unemployed Nigerian graduates and feed school children amongst other social welfare programmes in the N6.07 trillion budget for 2016.

Buhari said “phased” social welfare programmes will be created to cater for a large population of the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians upon the evidence of children’s enrolment in school and evidence of immunization.

In other 2016 votes, N63.29 billion was voted for subsidy (including N150 billion for 2015 arrears); N20 billion for the Presidential Amnesty Programme in 2016, down from N47.39 billion voted in 2015, and N39.88 billion voted for Frontier Exploration Services – to prospect for oil in the Chad Basin.

The National Assembly budget was slashed from N120 billion in 2015 to N115 billion in 2016.

In new borrowings, the federal government proposed N1.2 trillion (domestic) and N635 billion (foreign) borrowing, totalling N1.835.88 trillion in 2016.

According to the MTEF/FSP, the federal government recovered N350.33 billion in misappropriated funds which will be injected into the 2016 budget.

The recoveries include N137.90 billion (refunds/recoveries from Strategic Alliance Contracts); N162.43 billion (NNPC/CBN) and other recoveries which amount to N50 billion.

The MTEF/FSP is the precursor to the budget itself, as provided in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA).

Credit: Leadership

Ekweremadu Reminds Buhari Of His Promise To Pay Unemployed Nigerians N5,000 Monthly

The Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has reminded President Muhammadu Buhari of his campaign promises to Nigerians.
“The ruling APC government must fulfill their campaign promise of paying unemployed Nigerians a sum of 5000 Naira monthly,” he said on the floor of the Senate Chambers during moves to consider the third motion for the day: Urgent Need to curb the soaring rate of Unemployment in Nigeria.

According to Ekweramadu, “construction industries in Nigeria are no longer working and this is an impending revolution in our hands.”
Senator Urhoghide (Edo South), in his reaction, says employment in Nigeria is a national problem and must be tackled as such.

He, therefore, urged the federal government to lift the ban on employment in its agencies and parastatals.

 

Credit : Informationng