By: John Bassey, Zamfara.
The National Directorate of Employment in Zamfara state under the able leadership of Hajiya Hadiza Kolo has flagged-off the skills acquisition training programme for the Second Phase of the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative (RHEI 2), 2025 of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The event took place at the conference Hall of Federal Secretary, Janyau area of Gusau the state capital.
In a message presented by His Excellency Silas Ali Agara, the Director General of NDE represented by Zamfara state NDE coordinator Hajiya Hadiza Kolo said, in 2024, the Directorate made significant strides in fulfilling its mandate of employment generation in Nigeria by aligning with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, the Renewed Hope Agenda among other objectives, emphasizes economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation.
Leveraging this lofty ideal, the NDE with the active support of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment embarked on the first phase of the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative. The programme which was flagged off nationwide on December 6, 2024 successfully trained 32,692 unskilled and unemployed Nigerians in demand driven skills across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The strategic goals were increasing trainee employability, supporting small-scale enterprises, promoting agricultural productivity, improving rural infrastructure and providing transient jobs.
A total of 5,532 beneficiaries were resettled with loans and starter packs while linkages to credit granting institutions for those that could not be accommodated under our soft loan scheme is ongoing.
As we reflect on the achievements of the first phase of the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative (RHEI), I am excited that the second phase of the RHEI is being flagged off today.
In the second phase, the NDE will train 41,307 persons in over 30 different skills set which range from vocational, entrepreneurial, agricultural, ICT and activities in the public works sector.
I am proud to state that arising from the experiences of the first phase, we have improved and digitised our processes through a robust online registration portal fully equipped with scalable backends and geofenced capabilities.
This has made our processes more transparent, fair, equitable as well as providing us with a credible database.
The trainees are drawn from the 36 states of the Federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). A minimum of 4 persons were drawn from each of the 8,809 electoral wards in Nigeria to further ensure inclusivity.
Furthermore, a total number of 14,457 beneficiaries are expected to be resettled with starter packs to help them establish themselves in their chosen fields. At the end of the second phase of the RHEI 2, it is our sincere expectation that the participants would be equipped positively with skills to enhance their employability, foster entrepreneurship mindsets in them and improve livelihoods to contribute to their communities and the economic growth of the Nation.
The NDE, despite the challenges of limited budgetary resources remains committed to equipping unemployed Nigerians with demand-driven skill sets, in order to empower these individuals to become employers of labour and wealth creators in the nearest future.
Let me heartily congratulate the trainees who have made it to this level after the rigorous and thorough registration process conducted online. The online application process passed through various stages of screening and selection.
That you have made it this far among many applicants speaks to your potential and interest in gaining skills that can transform your future. I urge you to make every good use of this opportunity to better your life, community and the nation at large.At this juncture, it is therefore, my singular honour and privilege to formally flag-off the training component of the Second Phase of the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative RHEI 2.
Presence at the event were state controllers, Correctional Service, Commander Fire service Corps, Royal fathers and other stakeholders.
