NDE Disburses Agribusiness Facilities To 48 Unemployed Persons In Imo

On Jan 25, 2024

The Director-General, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Mallam Abubakar Nuhu-Fikpo, says 48 unemployed persons in Imo have so far benefitted from the agency’s agribusiness facilities.

Nuhu-Fikpo said this in Owerri, when he presented the facilities to the beneficiaries of the agency’s 2023 Agricultural Enhancement Scheme (AES).

The NDE boss, represented by the agency’s Coordinator in Imo, Mrs Chisara Egwim-Chima, said that the AES was initiated by the NDE’s Department of Rural Employment Promotion (REP) to fight poverty through citizens’ empowerment, job creation and unemployment reduction.

He said that the beneficiaries, drawn from the 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state, were expected to invest the facilities in the agribusiness sector and, overtime, make profit along the value chain, having been trained in the various REP schemes.

He further urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the resources by embracing self-employment as a deliberate choice to become self-reliant, create wealth and reduce poverty.

“You have been trained in modern agricultural activities, including off-farm activities and life skills to be able to overcome the challenges of your immediate environment.

“The facility you are receiving today provides you with the required opportunity for entrepreneurship and we expect you to justify these efforts by putting in your best to succeed as agric entrepreneurs, “ he said.

Also, the Head of REP Department, Mrs Beatrice Oruoyehu, advised the beneficiaries not to divert the facilities to unimportant ventures but use them for the purpose they were meant.

Oruoyehu described the gesture as a rare opportunity and expressed the confidence that the resources, when properly invested, would yield the desired results.

One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Millicent Izim from Isiala Mbano LGA, who spoke on behalf of the others, thanked the NDE for the facilities and promised that they would utilise them judiciously.

NAN/Oyenike Oyeniyi