See The Number Of Graduates FG Plans To Employ In 2017

According to the Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, the Federal Government will employ an additional 350,000 graduates in 2017.

The graduates will be employed under the N-Power Volunteer Corps, a component of the government’s Social Investment Programmes.

Akande disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, February 26 and that President Muhammadu Buhari had requested an appropriation of N157.75bn in the 2017 budget estimates for the N-Power scheme.

“350,000 unemployed graduates more would be hired and trained, alongside 50,000 non-graduates youths to be engaged as artisans and in other creative ventures,” Akande said.

He explained further that under the N157.75bn also, a sum of N4.5bn had been earmarked for science, technology, engineering and mathematics programme to support young Nigerians in building skills in those disciplines.

Akande noted that the SIPs’ budget proposals for 2017 would be discussed this week at the National Assembly and urged Nigerians to expect more initiatives especially in the area of implementation as virtually all of the SIPs are now undergoing different stages of implementation.

“While we were able to engage 200,000 unemployed graduates last year, we will do 350,000 more this year,” he said.

He added that some of the teething problems were giving way to lessons that would enhance the implementation under the 2017 budget.

He also disclosed that about N75bn had been allocated for the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme in the 2017 budget.