The National Directorate of Employment, NDE, says it has trained 2,900 youths, including 2,300 women, in various income-generating vocations in Jigawa in 2018.
The State Coordinator of the NDE, Abubakar Muhammad, said this in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday in Dutse.
Mr Muhammad said 5,000 of the beneficiaries participated in the Basic Business Training, BBT, programme conducted by the agency.
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He added that 2,300 people were trained in cosmetology, 50 youths on agricultural skills and 50 others on interlocks production.
The coordinator added that the directorate had resettled 165 beneficiaries of cosmetology training with starter packs and cash to set up their small businesses.
He stated that the agency also disbursed N10,000 each to 500 beneficiaries under its Micro Enterprise Enhancement Scheme, MEES, to enhance their small scale businesses.
Mr Muhammad further said the directorate is also collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Agric, Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme, AGSMEIS.
He said the collaboration would enable BBT training beneficiaries to access soft loans that would make them to establish their own businesses.
He expressed optimism that the trainings would assist to reduce unemployment and restiveness among youths in the state.
The coordinator pointed out that the trainings were aimed at empowering women to contribute meaningfully to the well-being of their families and the state’s overall economic growth.
He assured that the directorate would continue to accord special attention to women considering the level of their vulnerability in the society.
Mr Muhammad added that the directorate would continue to evolve new skills in its training schemes to create jobs in the state.
NAN
