Govt unveils exit plan for beneficiaries of 774,000 jobs

THE beneficiaries of the 774,000 jobs initiative will undergo basic business training aimed at exposing them to the basic rudiments of identifying and running micro and small business enterprises.

The Federal Government through the National Directorate of Employment ( NDE) is pro

viding the training as an exit strateg y for participants in the Extended Special Public W orks ( ESPW), which is a transient job scheme that lasted for three months.

The Deputy Director , Information and Public Relations of the National Directorate of Employment ( NDE), Edmund Onwuliri, who dis

closed this in Abuja, explained that the training is scheduled to hold at a central venue in each of the three senatorial districts across the countr y and three locations within the FCT.

He added that participants are expected to acquire relevant skills that will enable them to identify and manage micro and small businesses of their own after they exit the extended special public works programme.

He hinted that while engaged in the threemonth programme, the participants were actively engaged in activities within the public works sector, where they provided services such as environmental sanitation services in public places, drainage clearing and desilting, vegetation control, road traffic management and other community based and environment- specific public works services.

"While providing such services, participants were paid a stipend of N20,000 per month for three months that the programme was designed to last. 1,000 unskilled persons were recruited from each of the 774 local government areas of the nation. It is expected that the training will further enhance the capacity of the participants to migrate from the transient job phase to sustainable and self- reliant status, thereby reducing mass unemployment among the unskilled and skilled,” he said.