March 14 (THEWILL) — The Federal Government, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has concluded plans to empower 75,600 beneficiaries of Lots A and B of the N-Power scheme financially.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouq said this during the inauguration of the NEXIT-CBN program for Agricultural Small and Medium Enterprises (AGSMEIS) on Monday in Abuja.
AGSMEIS is an initiative of the Committee of Bankers, to support and complement federal government efforts to promote agribusiness/small and medium enterprises as a vehicle for sustainable economic development and job creation.
The event is designed to educate grantees, as part of the federal government’s strategy to ensure they actualize the goals of the N-Power initiative.
THEWILL reports that the 75,600 beneficiaries are the first batch of N-Power, out of 467,183 who applied for the training.
Farouq, who was represented by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Bashir Alkali, said the N-Power program was a core part of national social investment programs housed in the ministry.
According to her, the initiative was designed to achieve the national goals of reducing poverty and creating jobs in the country.
“The N-Power program is critical in helping young Nigerians learn and develop lifelong skills that will enable them to become solution providers and entrepreneurs in their communities.
“Recently, more segments have been incorporated into the N-Power program, such as the N-Skills, which is aimed at young people without formal education, who will be trained in different vocational skills and trades. The mobile money agents, who are for the financial inclusion of this segment of young people, are another great achievement of the program,” she said.
The Minister said she had wished that the outgoing beneficiaries of Lot A and BN N-Power would not be left unattended in the new arrangement.
“Today marks the beginning of the delivery of this long-awaited training which will enable beneficiaries who have expressed interest to participate in the CBN empowerment program,” she said, adding that other batches will have their training tower.
Earlier, the permanent secretary, who was represented by Raphel Obi, a director of the ministry, said the training was conducted in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“As we all know, the N-Power program is a comprehensive program that primarily focuses on unemployed young Nigerians with the aim of developing their employability and entrepreneurial skills.
“The NEXIT training program is a thoughtful collaboration between FMHADMSD and the Central Bank of Nigeria. This is to ensure that the batches left the program carry out useful projects thanks to the entrepreneurial training designed for this purpose. This is so that they can seize the opportunities that come their way,” he said.
He advised participants to maintain the highest level of seriousness in everything taught to them throughout the training program and thereafter.
Taking the floor, one of the beneficiaries, Mr. Samuel Daniel, commended the federal government for engaging young people through the N-power initiative.
Daniel, however, used the media to ask the government for more initiatives to engage other young people, who have not yet had opportunities.
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