President
Muhammadu Buhari's 500,000 job intervention programme for unemployed
graduates has finally kicked off, with successful applicants commencing
work on December 1, 2016.
The programme is in
line with the 2015 election campaign promises of ruling All
Progressives Congress, APC, to provide jobs for teeming unemployed
youths in the country.
The fulfilment is, however, coming precisely one year and seven months after the administration came on stream.
The project has had several hiccups, which elicited doubts in many Nigerians about its practicability.
This persisted
until the Office of the Vice President where the project is domiciled,
announced that it was factored into the 2016 national budget signed into
law by President Buhari on May 6, 2016.
To this end, a
statement from the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo's office yesterday
stated that "all is now set for the deployment of 200,000 unemployed
graduates selected in the first batch of the Buhari administration's
plan to hire half a million Nigerians."
Nigerian Union of
Teachers, NUT, reacted swiftly, commending the government for matching
words with action but warned that those engaged to teach in schools
should be right professionals.
This is even as
Organised Labour hailed the Federal Government's efforts, saying any
programme that could take such huge number of youths off the streets
should be supported.
Meanwhile,
unveiling details of the programme in the statement from the Vice
President's office, government stated that the names of the selected
200,000 had been sent to state governments and the Federal Capital
Territory, FCT, who would deploy them to assignments in various
communities.
According to the
statement, the names will also be published this week on the N-Power
internet portal, while participants will start receiving SMS messages
informing them of their selection from today, even as the Federal
Government congratulated the successful candidates.
The statement read
in part: "State governments and the FCT are also encouraged to post the
names of the successful first batch applicants in their local government
areas, while there would be further public announcements.
"Between now and
the end of the month, the states and the FCT would be engaged in
deploying the graduates who would formally start working and earning
their stipends on December 1, 2016.
"Of the 200,000
first batch, 150,000 of them would teach, 30,000 would work in the agric
sector and 20,000 in healthcare delivery, covering the three specific
programme assignments.
"The N-Power
Volunteer Corps is an expression of President Muhammadu Buhari's
commitment to invest in the human capital development of Nigerian
citizens, particularly our young people.
"The N-Power
programmme is also an innovative means to enhance ailing public services
in the area of basic education and primary healthcare.
"Also in the agric sector, it is aimed at achieving self-sufficiency by giving our farmers relevant advisory services.
"The Federal
Government of Nigeria, hereby, congratulates all 200,000 successful
applicants in the first batch, and they are encouraged to take this
opportunity seriously by learning the skills that will brighten their
future. They are also implored to serve their communities with
commitment and dedication.
"For those who have
not been selected, there is a waiting list based on the total number of
applicants, and subsequent batches will absorb more of the qualified
applicants.
"All together, the
N-Power will engage and train 500,000 young unemployed graduates. It is a
paid volunteering programme of a 2-year duration that engages graduates
in their immediate communities, where they will assist in improving the
inadequacies in the education, health, and agriculture sectors.
"The 500,000
graduates under the N-Power Corps programme will be trained in skills
that will enable them exit after two years to economically viable job
and business opportunities.
"As part of the
programme, the participants would own tablets that will contain
information necessary for their specific engagements, as well as
information for their continuous training and developments.
"Participants will
be provided teaching, instructional, and advisory solutions in four main
focus areas, and will be paid a monthly stipend of N30,000 during the
programme.
"The four main
focus areas are in basic education, agriculture extension services,
public health and community education (civic and adult education).
"Besides the
N-Power programme for undergraduates, there are other schemes for
non-graduates. These are: N-Power Knowledge, which would select 25,000
young Nigerians and N-Power Build 75,000, all of whom shall be trained
and paid during the duration of the scheme.
Criteria for selection
Explaining the
criteria used in selecting the applicants, spokesman to the Vice
President, Mr. Laolu Akande said the states with least number of
application were also given a mark up, while there was a 40 per cent
promotional consideration.
These were the yardsticks used in allocating the number of jobs to states.
Speaking to Vanguard last night, Akande said the details of the allocation to states would be made public in due course.
He said: "There are
three criteria. Number one is the number of applications that come from
each state. Forty per cent of the number selected was based on the
shared number of application per state.
"They took 40
percent across board based on the shared number of the applications.
Then the rest was based on North, East consideration.
"We gave additional
numbers to the states in the North-East and then the final
consideration is for the state that has least number of applicants.
"The state where
there were not enough people applying, in order to encourage the states,
we had to give them additional mark up.
"The numbers are
not equal. You are going to have different numbers per state because we
thought that these criteria were in fairness to the circumstances. You
consider the shared number of states, the north east situation and the
states that have least number of applicants. "
Right move, says NUT boss
Reacting to the
development, President, Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, Mr Michael
Alogba-Olukoya, lauded the initiative, saying it was a right step in the
right direction.
"The news to employ
200,000 unemployed graduates as teachers is a right step in the right
direction. It is a mission coming to reality. We want to appreciate the
government."
He, however warned the Federal Government to ensure that the right people were employed into the teaching profession.
"They should try to
make sure that it is only open for those that are professionals, so
that they can add value to the system. That is my comment for now."
Asked what
remuneration was expected from the government, Olukoya allayed fears of
the package, adding that the government had told the unemployed
graduates their salaries.
"Let us start from somewhere, because the government had announced what they will pay before," he said.
In its reaction,
Organised Labour yesterday lauded the Federal Government for taking as
many as 200,000 unemployed youth off the streets, stressing that the
effort should be supported by all and sundry.
General Secretary
of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, who spoke for
Organised Labour, however, said it was not jobs for the boys, contending
that Nigerians would like to know the process and criteria used for the
recruitment.
According to him, there have been concerns over transparency of the process since the government announced its plans to recruit.
"If they are ready
to deploy, it means they have recruited. We hope the selection process
was transparent and not just jobs for the boys.
"Nevertheless, any programme that can take 200,000 youths off the streets is commendable, welcome, and supported."
