Zulum visits NDE, calls for synergy
Governor of Borno State Babagana Umar Zulum has called for synergy with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to bring normalcy in the state.
He made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to the Director General of the directorate, Dr Nasir Mohammed Ladan Argungu, in Abuja, recently.
The governor said insurgency has caused serious challenges and crisis for the people of the North East, especially the people of Borno State.
“I came here with my team to interface with you as professionals in the art of job creation. It is not enough to dialogue with the Boko Haram, we need to create jobs for the youths to keep them busy, self-reliant and to forestall further insurgency,” Zulum said.
The governor expressed optimism that addressing the issue of mass unemployment in the state would yield necessary result in ending some of the root causes of the Boko Haram insurgency.
He added that their interface with the NDE would open up opportunities for them to see how they could genuinely train the youth to have sources of livelihood and be beneficial to themselves and the society.
“We have seen situations where somebody can tell you that they have trained welders in one week or tailors in one week. I have even heard someone said that they trained carpenters in three days. The situation is very obvious and will not be allowed to remain unchanged,” Zulum stated.
He thanked the D-G for his latest intervention in the state where over 5000 youths and women are to be engaged in rural based jobs.
In his remarks, the Director General appreciated the governor for his concern over the insurgency in the North East and promised to sit with the governor’s team to work out other areas of employment opportunities for the youths of Borno State.
The DG noted that the governor was the first from the north to have visited the directorate, adding that he was giving priority attention to the state, to help in resolving the security challenges besetting it.
He assured the governor that the North-East would be a priority in employment generation and job creation efforts of the NDE.