By Meletus EZE
Mr Afolabi Imoukhuede, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and Youth Empowerment, on Tuesday said that services rendered by N-Power volunteers were filling a lot of gaps in the communities.
TBI Africa quoted Imoukhuede said this at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja.
He said that N-Power was not only celebrating the successful engagement of 500,000 volunteers under the graduate scheme and 50, 000 non-graduate volunteers in various skills acquisition but the multiplier effects on the country’s economy.
“Apart from the direct beneficiaries, a lot of them have indirect beneficiaries.
“This is because most of them have started one business or the other and are employing their brothers, sisters or neighbours.
“All the ripple effects of job creation are what we celebrate in N-Power today.
“The scheme has created new businesses that have also begotten new businesses.
“We have found out that the N-Power beneficiaries are actually filling a lot of gaps in the communities.
“For example, the N-Teach programme was actually designed as a teaching assistant programme.
“But our understanding is that because public primary schools don’t have enough teachers, these N-Power volunteers volunteered to assist the few teachers that they have.
“Our finding is that the N-Power volunteers have even become the only teachers because there are many schools in the various communities that all they have are the principal and the vice principal.
“And every teacher you find in the school is either a National Youth Service Corps member or N-Power volunteer,’’ Imoukhuede said.
He, therefore, expressed the Federal Government’s commitment to approach the private sector to consider employment opportunities for N-Power volunteers.
“Government at any level cannot be the only employer of labour.
“We believe that the private sector is the greatest employer of labour.
“So, we have taken the conversation to that sector on how do we incentivise our private sector to consider employment opportunities for N-Power volunteers and by extension all unemployed youth,’’ Imoukhuede said.
