The National Directorate of Employment, NDE, is to train over 21,782 unemployed Nigerian youths out of which 12, 462 would be resettle to commence individual businesses in the next four months.
This is in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to the Director-General of the NDE, Silas Agara, the directorate had concluded plans to engage unskilled and unemployed number of persons across Nigeria in its second phase of the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative, RHEI.
The first phase exercise which was concluded in March 2024 had 93,731 jobless Nigerians trained in diverse skills set with significant number resettled with soft loans as starter packs to initiate self-employment.
Under the present initiative, the directorate, according to the Director-General, would provide Vocational, Agricultural, Digital and Entrepreneurial Skills Training with activities in the public sectors using over 30 skill sets.
At the end of training, significant number of the participants would be provided with Start-up Capital, Equipment and Tools as Soft Loan to commence small and medium Businesses.
Enrollment into the employment programme which is strictly online is to commence on 28th July and end on 11th August 2025.
In a press statement signed by the Ondo State Coordinator of the NDE, Mr. Adekitan Israel, training exercise for selected participants would commence in September 2025.
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Adekitan urged interested persons to log on to the NDE website at www. nde.gov.ng or directly to www. nderegistrationportal.ng to register with a valid National Identification Number, NIN, and a recent passport photograph.
He added that selection would be done on first come first served basis.
Adekitan explained further that awareness is currently being created for the programme nationwide to reach the 774 local government areas of the country in ensuring that the programme attracts the unemployed from the grassroots.
He emphasised that selection would also be considered on electoral wards basis to ensure inclusivity.
“In Ondo State, Five Hundred and Eighty (580) persons will be trained out of which over Two Hundred are to be resettled with soft loans and starter packs to commence businesses. Various marketable skills to be mastered include Solar Energy, Welding and Fabrication, Digital Marketing, Plaster of Paris (POP), Welding, Fashion Designing and Electrical Electronics. Others are Weaving, Bead stringing, GSM Repair, Computer Operation, Cookery and many others with trainings taking place in over 40 training centres in Ondo Central, Ondo North and Ondo South”.
He said the programme was aimed at stimulating national business activities and plug rural urban drift.
According to him, participants would also enjoy monthly transport stipends while on training.
He called on the unemployed youths in Nigeria to embrace the alternative employment opportunity being presented by the NDE rather than shadow chasing non-existent white collar jobs or engage in social vices that were inimical to national development.
The National Directorate of Employment was established in 1986 to combat mass unemployment through provision of vocational skills, agricultural practices and entrepreneurship development.
