Nigeria: 200,000 Graduates Resume Work Dec - Buhari

The Presidency has said that 200,000 graduates employed as teachers, agriculture and health workers will resume work on December 1.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said in a statement on Sunday that the names of the graduates selected two weeks ago had been sent to states and the Federal Capital Territory for deployment.

He said state governments and the FCT were encouraged to post the names of the successful first batch applicants in their local government areas pending further public announcements.

He said: "Between now and the end of the month, the states and the FCT would be engaged in deploying the graduates who would formally start working and earning their stipends on December 1, 2016."

Akande explained that of the 200,000 first batch, 150,000 of them would teach, 30,000 would work in the agricultural sector and 20,000 in healthcare delivery.

He said the Federal Government congratulated and encouraged them to take the opportunity seriously by learning the skills that would brighten their future, adding that they were implored to serve their communities with commitment and dedication.

According to him, there is a waiting list for those yet to be selected, based on the total number of applicants.

Akande stated: "All together, the N-Power will engage and train 500,000 young unemployed graduates. It's a paid volunteering programme of a 2-year duration that engages graduates in their immediate communities where they'll assist in improving the inadequacies in the education, health and agriculture sectors. The 500,000 graduates under the N-Power Corps programme will be trained in skills that'll enable them exit after two years to economically viable job and business opportunities. As part of the programme, the participants will own tablets that'll contain information necessary for their specific engagements as well as information for their continuous training and developments.

"Participants will be provided with teaching, instructional and advisory solutions in 4 main focus areas, and will be paid a monthly stipend of N30,000 during the programme. The 4 main focus areas are in basic education, agriculture extension services, public health and community education (civic and adult education). Besides the N-Power programme for undergraduates, there are other schemes for non-graduates. These are: N-Power Knowledge, which would select 25,000 young Nigerians and N-Power Build 75,000 all of whom shall be trained and paid during the duration of the scheme."

(Punch)