The National Directorate of Employment, under the Special Public Works Department, has engaged no fewer than 180 persons in Gombe State.
Speaking in an interview on Sunday with our correspondent, the acting State Coordinator, Jediel Stephen, said the beneficiaries were part of the transient jobs target under the nationwide 5,332 jobs launched by the Directorate.
Our correspondent reports that the programmes include; Enviropreneurship Development Scheme, Graduate Attachment Programme, Artisans in Collaborative Construction Employment Scheme.
He stated that the GAP comprised first and second phases, saying “it is divided into two, one for graduates, and the other one for school leavers.”
According to him, under the GAP, 100 participants across the two phases would be paid N20,000 each as monthly stipend, stressing that they would be exposed to employment opportunities in attached companies.
Stephen said, “We have phase one for graduates that started July 18, with 50 participants and the phase two started September 1, 2022, with another 50 participants. The essence is to provide graduates of tertiary institutions with transient jobs to gain practical experience for a period of three months. To create cheap employment for the company and to create opportunity for them to get into employment. The NDE will pay them N20,000 each every month.”
The acting Coordinator added that NDE had considered artisans and school leavers by including 80 of them as participants.
“For School leavers, in the construction, we have 50 undergoing training under the Artisans in Collaborative Construction Employment Scheme and they are paid N5,000 stipend and we have Environmental Beautification Scheme and they are 30 participants on ground now. There are three schemes: Hard landscaping (interlocking); Soft landscaping (involves decorations of roundabout, planting of trees),” Stephen added.
While urging unemployed graduates and school leavers to come to the NDE to register, he said, “under any circumstance, the NDE will cater for any person right from the National Youth Service Corps. We have counselling department, we deal with everyone.”
