The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) is set to engage 21,782 unemployed Nigerians in the second phase of the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative (RHEI).
This second phase of the programme, which will be online-based was aimed at creating empowerment opportunities and reducing unemployment across the country.
Director General of the Directorate, Silas Agara, made this known in Abuja during a one-day strategic meeting on the implementation of RHEI’s second phase with all state representatives and zonal directors from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“For the second phase, we are working with 21,782, but like I said, those numbers can go up. We are being careful so that states can exhaust the allocation given to them. Once resources are made available, we can increase those numbers. We have the capacity,” Agara added.
According to the DG of NDE, the programme was aimed at finalising modalities and timelines for the commencement of the second phase of the initiative.
Addressing newsmen, the DG lauded President Bola Tinubu for his unwavering support that led to the implementation of the first phase of the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative last year.
”We have been able to change the narrative and tell Nigerians that good things can come from the present crop of NDE staff that we’re working with,” he stated.
The Director General of NDE said the meeting would also look at the payment of stipends to the trainees, which posed a challenge in the first phase, and is also being re-evaluated.
“Again, we are here to agree on the nature of payment of stipends due to beneficiaries, because that has been a very big challenge, given the platform we used to pay stipends. We need to fine-tune those details so we don’t have challenges with our beneficiaries,” Agara stated.
Mr Agara said local content would be taken into consideration in selecting required skills for the trainees in line with the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative.
He stated that a database of recipients has already been created using NDE technologies and that external funding will most likely be used to expand the programme.
The first phase of the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative was launched last year as a flagship program to offer unemployed people relevant occupational skills and resources to help them become self-sufficient.
