Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has commended the leadership of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) for its commitment to mass employment creation in the country.
The minister stated this in Kaduna during the activities marking the NDE Special Day at the 39th Kaduna International Trade Fair.
Ngige, who was represented by Alhaji Ibrahim Jibia, a Director in the Ministry, disclosed that under the current leadership of the Directorate, several innovative employment creation initiatives had been introduced.
He expressed confidence in the ability of the NDE to contribute maximally to the reduction of unemployment in the country to tolerable levels.
Ngige added that the federal government has equally resolved to support the NDE in realising its statutory mandate, through the provision of the needed support as the agency confronts the challenge of mass unemployment.
He further stated that the budgetary allocation to the NDE in the 2018 budget had been enhanced to enable it provide the desired services to the unskilled and unemployed in Nigeria.
In his welcome address, the Director-General of the NDE Dr. Nasir Mohammed Ladan, highlighted the various initiatives being implemented by the agency towards addressing unemployment in Nigeria.
He said that over 76,400 unskilled and unemployed persons had been recruited and were about completing training in various vocational skills set across the country.
Ladan stated that 70 percent of this number, was being trained in Cosmetology in line with the demand-driven skills training initiative of the directorate.
Many successful beneficiaries of the directorate in various small scale business types exhibited their products and services at the fair.
