By Favour Goodness
No fewer than 540 Anambra state indegenes on Thursday commence advance business training of the Special Public Works (SPW), Department of National Directorate of Employment (NDE).
The programme was tailored to serve as an exit strategy for the participants of the Extended Special Public Works (ESPW) of the Federal Government which took place simultaneously in all the three Senatorial zones of the state.
Addressing the participants from Anambra Central Senatorial district at Awka South local government headquarters, Amawbia, the State Co-ordinator of NDE, Mrs. Chika Ufele said that 180 participants were drawn from each of the zones.
Ufele said that the training was developed as part of the effort to equip the beneficiaries with advanced business skills that would enhance their capacity to succeed in their chosen businesses.
She said that apart from the counseling sessions, the training of the participants would be two days programme, to enable them discover their potentials as entrepreneurs and to establish their enterprise.
“Other topics to be taught include how to manage your business, how to sustain and grow your business, how to avoid business failure and how to write feasibility study report among others.
” It is our strong belief that after this training, all the participants would have acquired the necessary knowledge and skills that would enable them succeed in their various chosen enterprise, thereby help in growing the economy,” she said.
Also speaking, the Director General of NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo explained NDE covered three broad categories which are vertically integrated.
The DG, who was represented by Deputy Director, South East zonal office, Mrs. Ifeoma Ezebue said, ” These are value re-orientation away from a culture of perpetual search for non-existent or dwindling wage employment opportunities, skills acquisition training and resettlement, that is provision of starter packs.
“The NDE has always carried out these activities with vigour, dedication and commitment to its mandate which is primarily to reduce unemployment and poverty within the limits of it’s resources.
” As we are all aware, empowerment of trained persons is very capital intensive and it’s therefore difficult for the NDE to resettle every person trained through it’s various programmes.”
Nevertheless, Fikpo said the Directorate collaborated with some credit granting institutions in order to expand the scope of it’s resettlement activities to accommodate more skilled unemployed persons.
Some of the collaborated organisations are Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the NIRSAL Micro Finance Bank,(AGSMEIS Loan scheme), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND) among other financial institutions.
It was gathered that this was a view to source finance for it’s teeming beneficiaries.
