Chima Azubuike, Gombe
No fewer than 100 beneficiaries are being trained by National Directorate of Employment (NDE) under the Sustainable Agricultural Development training Scheme in Gombe.
Speaking on Thursday, about the development, the state Coordinator of NDE in Gombe, Mustapha Hassan said the training scheme will equip participants within 2 weeks in theory and two months attachment which will be practical.
According to him, “After the theory, they are expected to be attached to various farms , where they will gain experience. Though this is not the first time we are having streams like this. Is normally a yearly programme and it is during this season.
“Immediately after the training is expected that the graduated trainees will be assisted with soft loans to establish their own business or linked to the Nirsal micro finance bank for them to access loan.
“Fattening is a type of project that you can carry out even from your house. The nature of our setting is that our women may not want to go out but this is a training that you can be in your house collect few goats of sheep and rear them and there won’t be any stress, and you don’t need big capital to start that. Before you know it your business will expand. They can begin the projects from their homes.
“They are on the two weeks theoretical training, and by next week we will post them to different locations or different establishments for them to have experience on whatever they chose, whether fattening or nursery or whatever. Depending on the theory they gained. The practical is for 2 months and each will be paid 2k every month.”
The NDE coordinator said amount of loan accessible to beneficiaries to start up their businesses is dependent on the project they want to venture into, adding that some may choose to venture into fattening.
“They can apply from five hundred thousand or even up to 10 million from the Nirsal bank. NDE has a palliative, depending on the programme they can assist them with about two hundred and fifty, depending on the available fund for them to start their business.
“We commend the Federal government for bringing a lot of schemes to take care of unemployed persons. From the look of things we have a lot of unemployed persons, that is why NDE is coming up with different schemes to take care of the unemployed persons. We are appealing to the unemployed persons to take whatever training serious because they can not rely on the government, you really have to be on your own. That is our plea to the participants and whoever is going to benefit from any of the programme of the NDE,” he added.
