MAKE N-POWER JOBS PERMANENT— ABIA YOUTHS BEG FG

REPORTER: UZOMA NWANKWO

Some youths in Abia State have called on the Federal Government to create permanent jobs for beneficiaries of some of its employment programmes, including N-Power and National Directorate of Employment empowerment schemes

Some of the beneficiaries of the programmes made the call while speaking with Radio Nigeria in Umuahia.

One of them, Mrs. Olivia Essien, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for creating the platform for unemployed youths and noted that the N-Health segment of the N-Power programme she participated in, really exposed her to different levels of her career.

Mrs. Essien said that since her session ended, she had been thrown back into the labour market and made case for the creation of permanent employment for beneficiaries to achieve the main objectives of the programmes.

Also, Mr. Uche Amalahu, who participated in one of the trainings organised by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in the state, alleged that some of them had not been empowered after completion of the programme.

He noted that instead of staying idol, he engaged in commercial tricycle operation to take care of his family.

He called on the Federal Government to make resources available to sustain the objectives of such programmes to check youth restiveness in the country.

In an interview, the State Coordinator of NDE, Mr. Chima Ibeh, explained that the agency had trained and empowered many participants of the programme in the state.

Mr. Ibe expressed regret that some of the challenges affecting the smooth operations of the programme were as a result of lean resources.

The NDE State Coordinator noted that the Federal Government had established the agency to control the unemployment rates in the country and encouraged youths to utilize some of the programmes of the NDE to be self-reliant.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU