The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has flagged off the training of 810 youths and women in Imo State under its Basic National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (B-NOAS).
NDE Director-General (DG), Dr Nasiru Argungu flagged off the training in Owerri on Thursday.
The beneficiaries will be trained on vocational skills such as fashion designing, interior decoration, computer operations and electrical work amongst others.
READ ALSO: Rotary Club Of New Benin Donates Mobility Devices To People With Disability
Delivering a keynote address at the flag off, Argungu thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the initiative, adding that youth unemployment has been of grave concern to the president.
The D-G, who was represented by the Imo NDE Coordinator, Mrs Ngozi Iheanacho, said that the 810 beneficiaries were drawn from the 27 local government areas of the state and were part of the 23,220 beneficiaries across the federation.
He noted that the NDE had been a principal benefactor of Federal Government’s attention towards discharging its mandate of creating jobs.
READ ALSO: Edo APC Crisis: Party Chieftain Narrowly Escapes Assassination
Argungu also thanked the NDE’s Vocational Skills Development (VSD) department for its doggedness and commitment to the program.
He urged the trainees to make maximal use of the skills to build their capacity for the attainment of the FG’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and to assert their own dignity.
“We thank President Buhari for this initiative and I urge you, the trainees to take advantage of this rare opportunity to improve your lots in life for the benefit of the society at large.
“We also thank the state governor for creating the enabling environment for this training. We pledge continuity and increased commitment,” he said.
In his remark, Deputy Director, VSD, Mr Obinna Ofia, said the directorate would empower the best trainees to become self established while urging the trainees to remain committed to training.
Also speaking, the Head, VSD department in Imo, Mr Emmanuel Iwuagwu said that the selection process was transparent as according to him, only the best of the best have been selected.
READ ALSO: IPPIS: FG May Force ASUU To Go On Strike
He, therefore, charged the trainees to effectively utilize the training so as to achieve its major essence of poverty reduction through skills creation.
Responding, one of the beneficiaries from Ngor-okpala LGA, Mr Anthony Azubuike, thanked the NDE for thinking towards the youths. He pledged to put the skills to their best use.