NDE trains 230 youths in skills acquisition in Ekiti

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has advised the new beneficiaries of the Skills for Job (S4J) scheme to make the best use of the opportunity to acquire skills to set up their businesses and become employers of labour.

The SJ4 scheme is one of the components of the Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO).

The NDE Director-General, Dr Nasiru Ladan, stated this yesterday during the commencement of training for 230 youths in Ekiti State under the scheme.

Other states benefiting from the scheme are Bauchi, Niger, Cross River, Kwara, Oyo, Kogi and Osun, with the trainees receiving stipends throughout the nine months it would last.

The NDE boss said the scheme would equip beneficiaries with skills through training, internship and apprenticeship for employability as they would be deployed to competent private sector operators (PSOs) for internship/ apprenticeship.

Ladan, who was represented by Mrs Tinuke Alabi from the NDE headquarters in Abuja, said the agency floated the scheme as a complementary and coordinated platform for social safety nets as an effective tool for poverty reduction.

He disclosed that the World Bank and the federal government have been supporting the NDE since the scheme commenced two years ago to ensure a smooth implementation of S4J activities in all the participating states.