Stakeholders in the country’s job creation scheme on Monday lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for the administration’s job creation scheme and ensuring the huge success of the N-power volunteer scheme.
Mr Afolabi Imoukhuede, the Presidential Aide on Job creation, and Dr Napoleon Ejeheri, the Ondo Primary Healthcare Coordinator and Chief Medical Director of the Comprehensive Healthcare Centre, Arakale, Ondo, gave the commendation in Akure.
Both officials were interacting with the N-Power volunteers in the state during the monitoring and evaluation of the programme by officials from the presidency.
“The N-Power programme has been a huge success. We thank God and we thank Mr President and the Vice President for the love, belief and faith that they have in the Nigerian youth that necessitated their continued investment in the Nigerian youth.
“They have done this through the N-power programme and many other interventions in the N-power graduate programme where we have 500,000 hitherto unemployed youths.
“Now we have the N-Build, where you have the vocational skills for construction, automobile industries and soon we are going to mobilise for hospitality industry as well.
“We have the N-power technology where we train on hardware and software development and we also have the innovation hubs which are designed, one in each geo-political zone, of which the one for South West is here in Akure,’’ he said.
According to Imoukhuede, those hubs help to spur innovations, solutions and enable young people to come together to garner solutions to some of our common problems.
He noted that the President had done a whole lot for the youth noting that he was glad that the youth were so appreciative of the programmes.
He observed that Ondo State was one of the 36 states and the FCT benefiting from the N-power.
He recalled his visit to the state’s Primary Health care Board where the management talked about how valuable the scheme had been where no fewer than 400 N-Health volunteers had assisted in the delivery of health care services.
Imoukhuede noted that one of the things the operators of the scheme had done was to instill discipline among the youth.
“So I am very proud of what I have seen in this supervision in the state.
“This is a Federal Government investment programme into the Nigerian youth under the social investment programme but it is also a programme that the success is shared with our states.
“The success of this programme is directly related to the effectiveness and seriousness with which our state partners have taken the programme.
“In Ondo state clearly, you have very active and passionate focal person, Mrs Ademosun, and my experience in the N-Build centre and the health managers showed clearly that they shared the same passion.
“Like I say to every volunteer, it is a learn, work and entrepreneurship programme; when you learn and apply your learning to work then the stipend you get is earned stipend.
“I am glad that the state has a zero tolerance policy toward ensuring that people must surely come to work by ensuring effective monitoring and discipline for those who falter,’’ Imoukhuede said.
He also commended the programmes partners in Ondo “for a job well done.”
He advised the youth still seeking for employment to be cognisant of the plans that President Buhari had unveiled, continued to unveil and would do even in his quest for a second term and plug themselves into any of the value chains.
He noted that N-Power had recorded many successes nationwide, including the story of one Benedict from Ondo, an N-Power volunteer in the first batch of 2016.
The volunteer, from his tablet, learnt the benefit of entrepreneurship and tapped into the opportunity.
“He was able to turn what was his community business, fishing, into a serious business even though he was an N-teach volunteer,’’ he said.
The presidential aide advised those in N-teach dreaming of establishing a school after their volunteerism to stop being myopic as “being in N-teach did not mean that you should start a school”.
“You can start by doing after-school learning/teaching programme or coaching and at the same time using your tablet to learn lucrative business.
“Look at Benedict, he is in N-teach, continues to teach, but he learnt in that same tablet which some have discounted; he found the secret to a success, which is entrepreneurship and then tied it to his community.
“He said that this fishing that I grew up with, and my father was a fisherman, let me go back to my community.
“And today he now harvests crayfish, processes it and is now a crayfish distributor in the school feeding value chain in Ondo.’’
He advised others to explore the many value chains in the job creation scheme to improve on their entrepreneurship and become economically self-reliant.
According to him, everyone in the N-Build programme can, in less than three months, begin to earn money from his chosen trade, noting that during the nine months apprenticeship, they have the opportunities to work with their employers.
“My singular word to the youth is that there is no short cut to success and I think they should have their eyes and ears to the ground to get the necessary experience for success in life.
“Just follow through with Mr President and I am sure that we shall all be happier for it at the end of the day.
Dr Ejeheri noted that N-Health volunteers in his locality had added much value to healthcare provision.
He acknowledged that the centre had two sets of volunteers since 2006 and advised that in future those who did not report for work should not be considered for engagement at all.
“This is a serious programme and I appeal that those who think that it is a national cake to share to vacate the scheme.
“Already the federal government has created the opportunity, why can’t we make judicious use of it.
“We must guard all federal government programmes in Ondo; we have no other country and sincerity is what will make us to succeed.
“We are going to make N-Power to work to enable our children to drive maximum benefit from it,’’ Ejeheri added.
