N-power: We’ve Empowered 546,449 – Minister

From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, has said that a total of 546,449 youths have benefited from the N-Power initiative. 
Farouq disclosed this yesterday in Abuja during the official flagging off of the N-Creative programme for the Northern zone with 1500 participants.
Represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Bashir Alkali, she said, “A total of 544,949 N-Power beneficiaries both graduate and non- graduate have benefitted from the various components of the programme. With the addition of the N-Creative, the number of N-Power beneficiaries have increased to 546,449.”
According to her, “N-Creative is focused on equipping youths with relevant skills and certification to become competent workers, innovators and entrepreneurs prepared for both the domestic and global digital and creative industries.
“The training will enable beneficiaries learn the necessary animation skills sought in storytelling, illustration/ graphic design, post production, script writing and voice acting. At conclusion, the training will upskill 3,000 young Nigerians as developers of world – class animated content for local and global consumption.
“The N-Power programme is a critical part of the National Social Investment Programmes domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD) and designed to achieve the National objectives of poverty reduction and job creation.
“The N-Power programme is key to helping young Nigerians acquire and develop life-long skills that ensure they become solution providers and entrepreneurs in their communities.
“N-Power has three core segments: N-Power Volunteer Corps – the Graduate programme, N-Power Build – Non graduate programme and N-Power Knowledge – Which is a non-graduate programme and embodies the N-Tech Hardware, N-Tech Software and the N-Creative training programme.”
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development is committed to ensuring that the strategic objectives of all the social intervention programs are achieved. Therefore, in order to maintain the highest level of attendance and discipline by our N-Power Creative trainees, training accommodation is compulsory.”
She added that, “during the camp training, each trainee is entitled to a feeding allowance of N900 per beneficiary per day.  Each trainee is also entitled to Ten Thousand Naira (N10,000) monthly stipends for a period of one year.
“In addition, a laptop is provided as a training tool, procured to enable trainees maximize the skills learnt during their stay in the camp and to start off with their vocation.”
Meanwhile, the Programmme Coordinator, Insikak Okon, said the N-CREATIVE participants will be “trained by veterans in the movie industry such as Segu Arinze and others.
“Nigeria Film Commission (NFC), will continue to collaborate with the other MDAs, organized private sector and international development agencies in increasing the employability of our youths through skill acquisition and training.”
One of the participants, Love Elias, said she was very happy to have been given this opportunity to aquire skills that will make her an entrepreneur and employer of labour and not a job seeker anymore.
“I am very happy that I was considered for this training out of the millions that applied. I am enjoying the train and hope to become an entrepreneur, own my own job and train others for free because I got the training for free.”
https://www.sunnewsonline.com/n-power-weve-empowered-546449-minister/

When N-Power Permanent Volunteers

Below are 5 things that will possibly happen when N-Power Permanent Volunteers:
1) Nigeria economy will improve with the right engagement of volunteers into the various sectors of the economy either via N-EXIT or others to discharge their duties diligently using the experience they have acquired from the N-Power Programme.
2)Unemployment will reduce: If N-Power will be able to engage Volunteers base on their preference, absorb some of the beneficiaries if not all into the various government organization, and then Others be engaged via cbn Empowerment options as prefer by the Volunteers, the unemployment problem in Nigeria will reduce. The numbers of unemployed graduates we have in Nigeria, absorbing 500,000 Graduates will help a long way. Note not every graduate can succeed as an entrepreneur.
3) Illegal Youth Migration will reduced: The rate at which young Nigerians are taking the risk of migrating illegally to foreign countries to seek for better livelyhood which sometime turns out to impact Nigeria negatively will reduced.
4) Crime will reduce: The problem of crime in Nigeria will reduce when most of these beneficiaries are absorbed into the civil service and others to the Nexit option rather than disposing them back into the streets. An idle man is an evil work shop.
5) They will retained their self esteem: N-Power has help many Graduate to regain their self esteem after many years of searching and seeking for employment without any meaningful result of securing a job until they were empowered by N-Power. Now that the Batches A and B have been Exited, letting them go back to the street will make most of them loss their self esteem again which is not good for the society, absorbing most of them into the civil service and other opportunities will help them retained their self esteem thereby creating a good atmosphere in their communities.