President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Abuja said focus on job creation,
\nconsistency in policy and innovation stimulated a 5 per cent growth of
\nthe economy in the second quarter, 2021, which is the highest in six
\nyears, assuring that Jubilee Fellows Programme will further consolidate
\non the success recorded.<\/p>\n
The President, speaking at launch of the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows
\nProgramme, State House, listed some of the key drivers of economic
\ngrowth and diversification in the second quarter to include
\ntelecommunications, transportation, electricity, agriculture and
\nmanufacturing.<\/p>\n
“Tuesday, 22nd June, 2021, I set-up the National Poverty Reduction with
\nGrowth Strategy (NPRGS) steering committee to coordinate our work to
\nfulfil my promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten
\nyears. This is building on the positive results from the Economic
\nRecovery and Growth Plan and the targeted response to the effects of the
\nCOVID-19 pandemic with the Economic Sustainability Plan.<\/p>\n
“These efforts have yielded results with Nigeria recording its biggest
\neconomic growth in six years with a GDP growth of 5 per cent in the
\nsecond quarter of 2021. The sectors that drove this growth are trade,
\ntelecommunications, transportation, electricity, agriculture and
\nmanufacturing. Each of these sectors showed significant improvement and
\nthus created more jobs for our populace.<\/p>\n
“An important part of our policies and strategies is the focus on
\nemployment and creating opportunities for our people. When this
\ngovernment was elected in 2015, we committed to increasing job
\nopportunities for Nigerians and as part of our social investments
\nprogramme we recruited 500,000 graduates into our N-power programme,”
\nhe noted.<\/p>\n
In 2019, the President said he directed that the number of graduates be
\nincreased to 1 million.<\/p>\n
“These graduates are recruited to work in agricultural, health and
\neducation institutions across the country. The N-power programme also
\nhas a non-graduate component that provides skills to tens of thousands
\nof Nigerians in areas such as technology, masonry, auto repairs, and
\ncarpentry.<\/p>\n
“We estimate that about 2 million people join our labour force annually.
\nWe continue to work with our partners to provide more opportunities to
\ncreate jobs and the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme in partnership
\nwith the United Nation’s Development Programme being one of such
\nopportunities,” he added.<\/p>\n
The President said, “The jubilee programme will provide a pathway for
\nyoung Nigerians to gain work experience in top tier organisations,
\ngaining relevant skills and building the right networks for the future
\nin various sectors including information and communications technology,
\nfinancial services, trade, manufacturing, agriculture and
\nagro-processing.<\/p>\n
“Other sectors include mining, telecommunications, creative industries
\nand technology, education, health, research and development, and public
\nsector institutions. We believe that building the right skills and
\nexperiences across these sectors are important to sustain the economic
\ngrowth we are experiencing.”<\/p>\n
He said the programme will build on other efforts of the government to
\nsupport young Nigerians such as the N75 billion youth fund in the
\nMinistry of Youth and Sports Development, which was created to support
\nyoung Nigerians in business or with business ideas, with N25 billion
\nreleased annually for three years.<\/p>\n
“The Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) was our response to the COVID-19
\npandemic. We have set-up a survival fund which has helped many
\nbusinesses stay afloat in the worst economic periods of the last 5
\nyears, more than one million Nigerians have benefitted from the fund,
\nwith more than 500,000 benefitting from the MSMEs Payroll support track,
\napproximately 270,000 beneficiaries of the artisan support track, and
\nabout 50,000 beneficiaries of the MSME grant scheme,” the President
\nadded.<\/p>\n
According to him, the International Labour Organisation estimated
\nequivalent of an unprecedented 255 million jobs being lost around the
\nworld as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
President Buhari noted that the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme, being
\na fully paid post-NYSC work placement programme would provide an
\nopportunity for mentors who were already engaged in various industries,
\ngained relevant experience and built capacity over the years to provide
\nmentorship and support for young Nigerians.<\/p>\n
“Beyond the skills and work experience, we will be building a new
\nculture of mentorship and guidance that can chart a new course for
\nskills development and work experience in our country.<\/p>\n
“We believe that as this programme creates new opportunities for 20,000
\nrecent graduates annually, the beneficiaries will use the opportunities
\npresented to them and maximize their 12 months of engagement,” he said.<\/p>\n
The President encouraged all eligible Nigerians to apply for the jubilee
\nprogramme, while urging private sector organizations to join by
\nproviding work placement opportunities, mentors and funding.<\/p>\n
“I would like to say thank you to the United Nations Development
\nProgramme and the European Union for their support on this vital
\ninitiative. And I hereby declare the program open,” he said.<\/p>\n
In his remarks, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba
\nAdeniyi Adebayo said the government remains appreciative of the role of
\nprivate sector in transforming economies by creating employment and
\nemployment opportunities and investments.<\/p>\n
He said start-ups, largely driven by young Nigerians, attracted 170
\nmillion dollars in the past year, which was the highest on the African
\ncontinent, explaining that the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme was to
\ncelebrate the nation’s 60th anniversary.<\/p>\n
Adebayo noted the role of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in driving the
\ninitiative to fruition and support of the United Nations Development
\nProgramme (UNDP).<\/p>\n
The Resident Representative of UNDP, Mohammed Yahya assured that the UN
\nwill continually support Nigeria to move human potentials across the
\ncountry to capacities and skills that will place the country on a better
\npedestal.<\/p>\n
“Each day, young Nigerians continue to break barriers with their
\ncapacity and ingenuity,” he said, “Young Nigerians have produced
\noutstanding innovations. There is no shortage of talents in Nigeria.”
\nEU Deputy Head of Delegation, Alexandre Borges Gomes and UN Resident
\nCoordinator, Edward Kallon, commended the initiative, saying the
\nprogramme benefitted from wide consultations.<\/p>\n
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Abuja said focus on job creation, consistency in policy and innovation stimulated a 5 per cent growth of the economy in the second quarter, 2021,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":82534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n