VP's aide says FG to provide N-power teachers with tablet devices

The Federal Government on Sunday said all 500,000 graduates to be employed under the N-power scheme would be provided with tablet devices to equip them with new skills.

Mr Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity said this when he appeared on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.

He said that the provision of the tablet devices would enable the graduates to be skillful, knowledgeable and empowered in their own area of specialization.

Akande said this was part of the present administration’s plan to tackle massive youth unemployment under its social investment programmes by hiring of 500,000 unemployed graduates and 100, 000 for non-graduates.

“So, everybody that is selected will go into the programme and spend two years. In those two years, number one, they will be trained, so that they can become more employable.

“Number two, they will be exposed to skills that can even turn them into entrepreneurs. Number three, in their engagement they will be contributing to their own community.

“So they will get a sense of not only adding value but also adding value within their community. Of cause this a volunteer scheme.

“But government will be paying them a stipend of N30,000 monthly and then each of them will also get a device that will have a lot of apps (applications) in it.

“These are the apps that will be used to train them to be skilled and all kinds of knowledge that can actually empower them.”

He said that the first batch of 200,000 unemployed graduates under the N-Power scheme had been hired and posted to the 36 states and FCT.

Akande said that the programme had started and that the states were in the process deploying those selected to their primary places of assignment.

He said that those deployed could work as teachers, agricultural extension educators, community health care programmes, among others.

“So, deployment is going on about this time and we still have 300,000 more to do, going forward.

“The idea is to engage the youth, the unemployed graduates and give them some training, some values.

“Prepare them so that at the end of the two years they will become more empowered to go forward with their lives.

“Hopefully, by that time we would have created more permanent jobs working with the private sector,’’ he added.

Akande said that the N-Power scheme was not a permanent job creation but a palliative for the jobless.

He said there was also plan by government to engage 100,000 or more non-graduates.

He added that government was developing policies and working with the private sector to develop an enabling environment that would revatilise the economy and create more sustainable employments.