The Director General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, has reaffirmed that NDE will continue to do its best to address the challenges of unemployment in the country as he flagged off the 2024 Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS).
The Director General further called on participants of the SADTS to see the gesture as a rare opportunity which should not be allowed to fail.
The DG NDE was represented by Zamfara state NDE Coordinator Khadija Hamza Kolo on Thursday during the flagged-off ceremony of the 2024 Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS) held in Gusau, Zamfara state capital
Khadija Hamza Kolo disclosed that the 2024 Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS) is being held simultaneously in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
“The flag-off ceremony heralds the implementation of the 2024 Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS).
“The passionate commitment, Wind support and guidance received from the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment/NDE Supervising Minister, Rt. Hon. (Barr) Nkiruka Onyejeocha, PhD, made it possible for NDE to promote Agriculture as a business and attract unemployed Nigerians into modern agriculture in tandem with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President”.
“You may recall that the Federal Government established the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to address unemployment in the country. The Directorate has been carrying out its responsibilities through sensitization, counselling, e-radicalization, and reorienting the minds of unemployed youth to deemphasize the search for non-existent white collar jobs and embrace skills acquisition as a deliberate choice for self-reliance and an effective contributor to the socio-economics of the nation.”.
“The Rural Employment Promotion Department is one of the core programme departments of the Directorate. It is saddled with the responsibility of generating employment opportunities in the agricultural sector for the unemployed youth in Nigeria.”.
“The major strategy of the department is training in modern agricultural skills and empowerment of the beneficiaries with facilities to engage effectively in agribusiness for jobs, income generation and improved livelihood”.
“The training areas of the department also cover agricultural value chain activities in areas such as production, storage, Post-harvest handling & management, processing, preservation, packaging, marketing, agricultural extension, rural sociology and off-farm activities, as well as other innovative and modern technologically driven skills in the agricultural sector”.
“Today we are here to flag off the training of one thousand eight hundred & fifty (1,850) participants under the 2024 Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme (SADTS). These prospective participants are drawn from the local Government and senatorial districts of the 36 States of the Federation and FCT Abuja.”
“The aim of the training is, amongst others; to create employment for the rural communities through training on modern innovative agricultural technology (Exotic vegetable crops and livestock production skills) along its value chain, improve the livelihood of the rural people, reduce rural-urban migration and expose unemployed youths to the potential in exotic vegetable crops and livestock
production farming businesses”.
“let me remind the participants to see this gesture as a rare opportunity which should not be allowed to fail.
She said the training would provide an opportunity to acquire the knowledge required to set up agri-businesses.
“I invite all well-meaning Nigerians to join hands and partner with the NDE for the benefit of the unemployed in our midst.
I also wish to reaffirm that NDE will continue to do its best to address the challenges of unemployment in the country”.
In his remarks, Mr. Jeshua Fagbemi, representing the Director of the SADTS programme NDE headquarters in Abuja, said
the programme will add value to the lives of the participants and advise them to be punctual, listen, participate actively and benefit more.
He explained that the training was in line with the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s policies on food security and sustainability.
Earlier on, Nura Shehu Head of the SADTS programme at NDE Zamfara state, urged participants to listen and learn for them to become self-sufficient.
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