The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) on Wednesday in Asaba, Delta State, began a vocations training programme for 20 semi and unskilled people in what is expected to create jobs for beneficiaries and then transform them into employers of labour.
The training, organised under the auspices of the NDE’s Basic Open Apprenticeship Scheme (B-NOS) of the Vocational Skills Development (VSD) Department, according to Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, Director-General of the NDE, “is designed to provide vocational skills training to unemployed persons in Nigeria.”
In his keynote address, the DG, who was represented by Mr. Jinanwa Chukwuma, the NDE state coordinator, said the three-month training for 20 beneficiaries simultaneously across each of the 36 states and Abuja, is for digital and domestic skills.
He listed the digital covered by the training to include: programming, graphic designs, GSM repairs and software installation, satellite installation/signal searching and scanning, website design, photography and video editing. Domestic skills were listed as: catering and confectioneries, fashion design, barbing, hair dressing, and leather works.
The training, Fikpo stressed, “is yet another milestone achieved by the NDE and the Federal Government in our vision to empower unemployed persons who want to be self-employed and support the society.”
Vocational skills, he continued, are central to human survival, besides being “key to sustenance and satisfaction of basic human needs and also a vehicle for a person to re-assert one’s own dignity, occupy a productive place and feel useful and contribute positively to the family and society at large.”
Fikpo listed the target group for the current training to include unskilled men and women who may be primary or secondary school leavers, school dropouts and other unemployed persons willing to be trained in marketable skills.
Earlier in his welcome address at the orientation programme, Chukwuma, who was represented by Mrs. Edith Omoku, Head, Planning, Research and Statistics Department, appreciated the DG for his support and commitment towards creating job opportunities in this state, using training and skills acquisition as a tool for youth empowerment. He urged participants to make good use of this opportunity, so as to become self-reliant and employers of labour in the nearest future.
The Deputy Director, Vocational Skill Development (VSD) headquarters, Hajiya Amina Shettima, represented by Mr. Musa Ibrahim, wished the trainees well, advising them to take the training very seriously as they will be well supervised by the NDE managed and other bodies.She urged the beneficiaries to fill their log books and ensure they go along with their means of identification.
