By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Gabriel Ewepu

THE National Directorate of Employment, NDE, in its bid to reduce unemployment in Nigeria through skills, knowledge transfer and empowerment, has said it is taking skills and empowerment to the doorsteps of Nigerians.

NDE’s Director-General, DG, Abubakar Fikpo, spoke during a media tour and inspection visit to project sites within the FCT, lamenting that unemployment has negatively impacted all families in the country.

“We believe unemployment’s negative effect touches virtually all households and they all feel the impact of unemployment in this country, and we believe that with the support we have been receiving from government to impact upon the lives of unemployed Nigerians as well as those living in serious poverty, we believe that if they cannot come to us, we should be able to go to them and educate them at their doorsteps about the opportunities there are in government, which we believe we can take advantage of either to be gainfully employed or employ Nigerians.”

Fikpo informed that with the structures of NDE across the country, the agency ensures it reaches out by establishing its presence in all the local government areas across the country.

He pointed out that NDE has confidence in the media as one of its effective partners to amplify what the agency does, therefore sought collaboration with the media to educate and enlighten Nigerians in order to see and spread the activities of NDE in building capacity of Nigerians on how to be employed and become employers of labour, hence reducing unemployment, tackling poverty and growing the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

Deputy Director, Head of Rural Employment Department, NDE, FCT, Chukwuma Yinanwa, among others, said: “You cannot separate the rural setting from agriculture, and what we do in promotion of rural employment is agric sector employment. NDE adopts new technological and scientific discoveries in developing employment in the agric sector. 

We are encouraging a paradigm shift from artisanal fishing to the practice of aquaculture. Presently in this pond, we have 400 juveniles of catfish; they are used for demonstration of agricultural livestock production, especially fish production.”

Beneficiaries

Speaking, one of the beneficiaries, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sunvinegrow Nigeria Limited, Omolafe Sunday Gabriel, whose farm is located in Barangoni, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, said: “I accessed N500, 000 loan from the Nigerian Directorate of Employment, NDE, which has a single digit interest rate on it, and it was one year moratorium they gave to us, that was in 2019. However, since that time till now, I have not been able to access any other loan facility, although if I have another opportunity, I will access another loan because I want to expand the business, and I like to settle down with this business.

“And I give credit to government and the coordinators from NDE for being able to assist us. I have 400 matured catfishes in an earth pond, and I have 13 earth ponds with 6, 000 fishes.”

Trainees speak 

One of the participants, Abdulmimin Angulu, said: “I am a trainee in agric section, and after my graduation I will go into fish farming because it is lucrative and it is short time. Our challenge here on this demonstration farm is that we lack water to grow the crops.”

Mrs Rose Anyoh, said: “Before I came here, I was also into farming, and with the knowledge I have acquired, I will improve in my farming skills, and right now, I am specialised in fish farming, and my appeal is the NDE should empower us with a loan of N100, 000 each; it would be enough and that would help me establish my agribusiness.