By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Kogi State Coordinator of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mallam Zakari Abubakar has identified idleness and jobless as the major causes of prostitution and social vices in the society.
Mallam Abubakar made the observation while speaking at the flag off ceremony for the commencement of Entrepreneurial Training organised by the Small Scale Enterprises Department of the Directorate for fifty unemployed graduates in Kogi state.
According to the State Coordinator, the five days Entrepreneurial training tagged ‘start-your-own-bussiness’ was designed to inculcate the required skills in unemployed youths which will enable them to operate successful enterprise(s) instead of waiting endlessly for white-collar jobs.
He urged the trainees to be very attentive to what is being taught by the various resource persons for their own good.
The Director General of the National Directorate of Employment, Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, represented by Chikodi Ike, an Assistant Director at the NDE headquarters, reiterated the burning desire of President Mohammad Buhari to eradicate poverty through job creation strategies of the NDE and other social investment programmes embarked upon by the current administration.
Fikpo said that this particular scheme of NDE is expected to equip the trainees with relevant Entrepreneurial skills required to operate successful business that will ultimately make them self employed, train others and contribute to the economy.
The Manager of NIRSAL microfinance bank, Atati Sharif Musa, gave an overview of the various facilities of the Central Bank available to the trainees upon completing the trainning through their financial institution.
The state commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Mrs Fatima Kabir Buba, who was represented by the Director Women Affairs, Mrs Babatunde Josephine Motunraye, urged the trainees to take the training seriously as it has the capacity of transforming them from being ‘children of nobody to children of somebody’.
Responding onbehalf of the trainees, Ephraim Agboni, praised NDE and the federal government for giving them a platform to acquire enterprenural skills free.
He also thanked the organizer for providing instructional materials,feeding and a promise to issue them certificate upon the successful completion of the training programme.
