By; PETER NOSAKHARE, Kaduna
No fewer than 30 persons drawn from the 21 local government areas of Anambra State are undergoing training on the environmental beautification scheme designed by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).
Speaking during the orientation ceremony in Awka over the weekend, the State Coordinator of NDE, Mrs. Chika Ufelle said that the Environmental Beautification Training Scheme (EBTS) would impact specialized and marketable skills on the targeted unemployed youths, ” better equipping them and enhancing their chances of being employed or becoming entrepreneurs.”
The coordinator also said that the training would run for a period of three months and would equip the participants with the necessary skills that will enable them to succeed in their various chosen trades.
She said the choice of the specialized training on Soft landscaping, Hard landscaping and Plaster of Paris (POP) was a carefully designed initiative to align the participants with the current demands of the general economic activities of our society.
She noted that, ”Adequate logistics and enough preparation have been made for the smooth take-off of the programme in the state. Therefore, attendance is compulsory as failure might lead to removal from the programme and the monthly stipend forfeited.
” EBTS participants will be trained in interlocking, brick moulding, kerb making, concrete rings, and POP among others. I enjoin all the participants to take advantage of this training to acquire good marketable skills that will sustain them, their generation and the Nigerian society at large.
” I invite all categories of the unemployed in our society, including those about to retire to come, embrace and benefit from the vast experience of the programmes which NDE developed over the years.”
Ufelle therefore, appealed to other stakeholders including state governments, local governments, and affluent members of the society among others to partner with NDE in tackling unemployment, especially in the issue of resettling the beneficiaries.
In his vote of thanks, Mr Nonso Onuorah, one of the beneficiaries, thanked the Director General of NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, for his fatherly role in making this training possible, promising that they, the beneficiaries, will reciprocate the gesture by being punctual and attentive throughout the training period.
