The federal government has flagged-off the training programme for unskilled persons aimed at equipping them with employable skills that would boost their socio-economic wellbeing.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, who inaugurated the programme in Lokoja, Kogi State, said the training was for creating safety-net jobs for unskilled persons in Nigeria at institutional level.
The minister, who was represented by the ministry’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Olajide Oshundun, said the training is aimed at achieving the objectives of the Safety Net Jobs for Unskilled Persons (SNJUP) programme of government, designed for unskilled persons to acquire skills for a sustainable livelihood.
He said the SNJUP was designed by the federal government “to pull the unskilled persons off the street and provide them with a sustainable means of livelihood by engaging them in productive activities.”
He said the SNJUP programme would ultimately reduce the high rate of unemployment among unskilled persons.
The minister classified the unskilled persons as “young persons in the age bracket of 12 – 34 years with educational qualifications in the range of nil to senior secondary school certificate.”
He said the journey to the take-off of the training started from a National Survey for Generation of Baseline Data on Unskilled Persons in Nigeria on institutional basis, to the Training Needs Assessment which identified available and profitable skills within the beneficiary’s individual environment.
The minister urged the participants at the three-month intensive skills training programme to maximize the opportunity and master every skill offered in the training.
Also speaking, the Kogi State Labour Controller, Mrs.Oluwatoyin Olugbami, congratulated the beneficiaries, and enjoined them to pay attention and be of good conduct.
The training programme is being organised in all the six geopolitical zones.
