Nigeria launches Presidential Empowerment Scheme to create 774,000 jobs

*Federal Government policies of social protection, people empowerment will continue despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic ─President Muhammadu Buhari

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In further activating his administration’s commitment to youth development and poverty alleviation in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has launched the Presidential Youth Empowerment Scheme (P-YES), aimed at creating 774,000 jobs across all the Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the country.

ConsumerConnect reports Buhari, on the occasion of the launch at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, FCT, promised that the Federal Government policies of social protection and people empowerment would continue on track, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic.

Describing P-YES as a cornerstone of his administration’s social and economic development strategies, the President said it was part of the overall policy of ensuring that 100 million Nigerians were lifted out of poverty in the next 10 years.

Buhari stated: “The P-YES is also part of the plan we adopted in 2016 in which we empowered one-hundred youths from each of the 774 local government areas with the necessary tools to acquire skills and establish small businesses.”

On a tour of P-YES tools and equipment displayed at the forecourt of Presidential Villa, the President also expressed delight that the materials showcased represent the fruits of the initiatives embarked upon by his administration in 2016.

He said: “All the tools, machines and equipment that are exhibited here, are products of the efforts of these empowered youth entrepreneurs.

“I note with particular pleasure that they were all fabricated in Nigeria by Nigerian youths using locally sourced materials. This is a wonderful and uplifting achievement.

“As an entrepreneurship empowerment project, the P-YES programme aims to address the needs of unskilled and less educated youth.

“It targets key areas of activities that are of practical importance and are essential to every aspect of our economy.”

The President added “these include areas such as agriculture and food processing, restaurant and catering, tailoring and fashion design, technical skills such as in the Information and Communications Technology sector, artisanship, welding, carpentry and joinery.

“Others are small businesses and activities associated with the micro-economic sector of this economy.”

Buhari urged state governments, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to factor the P-YES into their programmes to assist the youth in order to attain their potential in the chosen fields.

He equally called on local and foreign private sector operators in Nigeria to make contributions to the expansion of the programme through channelling their corporate social responsibility efforts into skills acquisition, creation of start-ups, and other intervention measures.