By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Youth Empowerment and Social Support Operations (YESSO 2.0) and the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) have agreed to efforts to uplift thousands of Nigerian vulnerable youths out of poverty.
The National Programme Manager of YESSO 2.0, Comrade Richard Romanus disclosed this during a visit with his delegates to the NDE National office in Abuja.
Comrade Romanus disclosed that the visit was to seek support and collaboration from stakeholders to help in achieving set goals for the commencement of YESSO 2.0 programme.
The programme manager said, his team was ready to partner with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), with a view to enhancing employment opportunities for thousands of Nigerian Youths in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Romanus stated that uplifting more Nigerian youths from the shackle of poverty is achievable under the supervision of Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
“We have identified NDE as a major player in the success of YESSO 1.0, hence, we are here to seek the same support to make YESSO 2.0 even bigger and more successful. We have quite a number of programmes lined up for implementation that will enable the teeming youth population to become gainfully empowered and maximize their entrepreneurial potential.”
According to the National Programme Manager, most youths were unemployed not because there was no job to do “but because they did not have the required and marketable skills that would grant them employment.
“YESSO is about training on skills for jobs, so we will partner with NDE to train these thousand of youths on marketable skills that will make them self-employed, to be self-reliant, and to even have access to start-up funds where possible, he
stated.
The Director General of the National Directorate of Employment, NDE, represented by the Director, Vocational Skills Development, Mr. Issah Abdu stated their readiness to collaborate with any group or organisation on how unemployed youths in the country can be taken out of poverty index.
The Director General congratulated the new YESSO National manager and his team on their appointment, saying youth empowerment must be administered by the youths themselves.
He disclosed that the NDE had collaborated with the World Bank in the implementation of the YESSO 1.0 Programme,assuring that NDE will partner different programmes of YESSO 2.0 to ensure its success.
“With youth empowerment , positive engagement of the active population, engagement of idle minds, social tension and insecurity will reduce in the country.”
He further disclosed that the NDE has 96 vocational skills acquisition centres across the country, including Agricultural centres and Mobil Training Workshop booths in rural areas.
Highlight of the meeting includes technical session and discussions on possible area of partnership.
