Unemployment rate scary but N-Power scheme, if well managed, could reduce its impact
The disclosure that over five million candidates have applied for the Batch C of the Federal Government’s N-Power programme, which is expected to enroll only 400,000 beneficiaries, has brought home poignantly the level of desperation into which the unemployment blight is pushing our youths. It also shows the sheer magnitude of the Nigerian youths in the labour market.
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, which unveiled this last week in a statement issued by the minister’s special assistant on strategic communication, Halima Oyelade, said specifically that 5, 042, 001 youths applied for the latest batch of the scheme before the registration for the exercise closed.
In a related development, 441 First Class graduates in various fields have queued up to teach in Oyo State secondary schools. They were among the candidates who applied for the computer-based test for the employment of secondary school teachers, which commenced in Ibadan, last week Tuesday.
Chairman of the state’s teaching service commission, Pastor Akinade Alamu, who made the announcement while monitoring the exercise, noted that the interest of the First Class graduates in teaching was a significant turnaround for the education sector in the state. Such is the level of desperation among our teeming job-seeking youths that they now grab any available strand that has a semblance of employment. The stark reality is that as thousands of graduates are discharged into the labour market every year by the various tertiary institutions, the unemployment bracket widens, leaving the motley to chase the little available job spaces.
The immediate macro-economic consequence of the burgeoning unemployment rate is deepening poverty, as the mass of despondent job seekers continue to depend on their parents and guardians, most of whom, assailed by the harsh socio-economic environment, are themselves barely able to eke out a living.
Apart from the economic angle, the unemployment bogey has a direct security challenge. As President Muhammadu Buhari noted recently, high poverty stemming from joblessness adds fuel to banditry and Boko Haram radicalisation. Both pose existential danger to the country. We are witnesses to the orgy of killings and other despicable acts being perpetrated by these vile elements in many parts of the country.
Indeed, joblessness produces restless youths who in turn vent their egregious spleen on the hapless society. Government should, therefore, do something urgently about the problem. And to address the challenge, it must first check the monstrous haemorrhage in the system that fritters away scarce resources that could have been invested into building infrastructure to provide jobs.
N-Power is, no doubt, one of the attempts at tackling the unemployment challenge. The scheme must, therefore, be carefully tracked to ensure it does not derail from its original goals: It is not a permanent job. It is only a stop-gap for beneficiaries to exit to set up their own businesses or land better permanent jobs based on their newly acquired skills.
The programme should be more vigorously pursued to create a new crop of Nigerian graduate and non-graduate entrepreneurs, that, complemented by better infrastructure – stable power, improved network of roads and a good, modern rail system – should create a big pool of jobs.
The high number of the N-Power applicants is alarming but that should be a bother only in the short run. The scheme should pull down the number with time, other things being equal, since it should create private-sector, skill-driven jobs rather than expand government’s bureaucracy.
Of course, having First Class graduates snap up secondary school teaching jobs could be a boost to secondary education, as the obviously elated chairman of Oyo State Teaching Service Commission had enthused, given the envisaged enhanced, quality teaching, but again, that should be in the short run. It is latent that the situation would have been different if the First Class graduates had better options. Such brains are better utilised to strengthen the manpower pool in the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
WHAT IS NPOWER STIPEND
Participants of Npower program, being unemployed may not be able to afford the cost of commuting to work, traveling to and living in a deployed area for the program. N-power program pays a fixed amount of money in addition to wages or salary to aid participants commute to work effectively.
HOW N-POWER PAYS STIPENDS
The salaries of those who are on the N-Power program
N-Power Teaching Program: 28,000-30,000 per month.
N-Power agriculture and dairy program: 25,000-30,000 per month.
N-Power Health: 30,000-40,000 per month.
N-Power Community Education Program: 10,000- 30,000 per month.
N-Power inventions: 10,000-30,000 per month.
N-Power’s software development program: 20,000-40,000 per month.
N-Power Repair Training Program for N-Power: 20,000-40,000 per month
N-power Build and construction: 27,000-30,000 per month.
If you want to know how npower stipends are paid, it is advisable to reach out to the N-power team through their social media handles. Below are their social media handles:
- Twitter – @npower_ng
- Facebook – @N-PowerNG
- Instagram – @npower_ng
- Telegram – NpowerNG
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N-Power: When May Stipend Payment Will Commence?
Monthly payments (30,000 stipends) so far are made every month to about 500,000 N-Power volunteers across the country.
We had earlier reported that the beneficiary is concerned about the “habitual delay of his monthly stipend” by the N-Power scheme.
N-Power June/July Stipend: Beneficiaries’ 23 Billion Naira Withheld By Buhari’s Minister
502,580 bonafide enrolees of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s N-Power programme are yet to get paid their June/July stipends.
At the present time, one day into the new month of August, beneficiaries are still waiting to be paid for June and July.
Today July month going to end, yet, beneficiaries have not been settled their June stipend as well as July stipend.
This has caused many of them to come on social media (Twitter most especially) to demand their payment.
Currently no reply from Npower Officials / Federal Government
Npower Permanency News
This permanency news relates for those who are batch A or B beneficiaries, then you should know about this news.
All the npower beneficiaries will move towards a good work environment for permanent job placement. This means that npower will give the beneficiaries a permanent job in government, or support to create their own permanent business.
What is Npower Permanency 2020?
Npower will ensure that all beneficiaries permanently work with federal and state agencies.
If you have subscribed to the VoiceofNigeria newsletter, you will update with more latest news.
Npower News on Permanency 2020 – See today’s Latest Update: See latest news on Npower Permanency News 2020 today find out what’s going to be the faith of power 2016 and 2017 beneficiaries today.
In case you don’t to miss out on npower updates regarding permanency of beneficiaries, kindly drop a comment after reading this news so we can update you.
Back in 2019, npower said that beneficiaries will be moved from npower to other federal agencies.
The transition includes moving of beneficiaries from npower to community police, teachers etc.
Npower also said that beneficiaries who indicates interest in business will get financial support from the government.
FG urged not to disengage N-Power beneficiaries – The Federal Government has been urged to jettison its proposal to disengage the N-Power beneficiaries.
Appealing a press briefing in Umuahia, National Chairman of Isun Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Sir Isaac Nkole, said the move would be counter -productive.
He said that the scheme had made tremendous impacts in some key sectors of the economy such as agriculture and education; stressing that any idea to discontinue the programme “is ill-advised and makes no economic sense.”
Nkole noted that several university graduates had been engaged in teaching primary school pupils through N-Power, a development, he explained, had improved the quality of education in primary schools especially in rural communities.
He further argued that disengaging the beneficiaries after giving them hope and little succour for about four years would not only worsen the unemployment situation in the country but lead to increase in crime wave as well as suicide cases.
In his words; ” The introduction of N-Power stands out as one of the best policies of the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari. A lot of graduates have been engaged through the scheme. Some of them are in N-Teach, N-Agro, N-Tax and N-build. I appeal to President Buhari not to listen to anyone advising him to disengage the beneficiary as being speculated that the programme will be stopped by the 26th of this month.
“The questions are; If you disengage these graduates that are helping to improve the quality of education in primary schools, where do you want them to go? Is it to the over-saturated labour market or the crime industry?”
Nkole, however, urged the President not to make the mistake of laying off N-Power beneficiaries because of the grave implications of such action.
He rather urged the President to look for a way of permanently absorbing the beneficiaries into full civil service.
Nkole whose cooperative is in charge of disbursing the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Covid -19 loan to households and Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, in South East and South South geopolitical zones, applauded the President for the gesture.
Mr. Nkole who said the loan had seriously assisted several households recover from the harsh impacts of the covid -19 pandemic, disclosed that over 2000 persons had benefitted from the scheme in the zones.
Nkole who said Buhari’s administration had made appreciable efforts in the fight against poverty through some laudable programmes like Covid -19 loan, Trader Money, and N-Power, urged the President not to relent.
He promised that the Isun Cooperative Society as one of the accredited cooperative societies in the disbursement of the covid -19 loan, would ensure “it gets to the people in the grass roots equitably”.
“This is the first time the down trodden in society is getting interest -free federal loans without stress. It’s amazing and it has restored the hope of many homes today.”
Nkole who said beneficiaries in the household category got up to N500,000 per person payable after three years, advised them to invest the money wisely, noting that “it’s a loan and not grant”.
He hinted that disbursement for the SME category would soon commence, and commended Buhari for his commitment in eliminating poverty among Nigerians.
In a bid to implement the N-power Nigeria Permanency 2020, npower was moved to a new ministry. However, the transition from one ministry to another caused npower beneficiaries to stay up to 2 months without receiving their stipend.
What is Npower Permanency?
If you’re an npower batch A or B beneficiary, then you need to know that the permanency is all about.
Npower will move all beneficiaries to good working environment for permanent job placement. It means that npower will give beneficiaries permanent jobs in the government, or support to create a permanent business of their own.
About Npower Permanency 2020?
Npower will work with many federal and state agencies to ensure that beneficiaries are permanently employed.
If you signed up for the npower transition, then you’ll be contacted when there’s fresh news update.
For more information about how Npower Permanency will work, kindly drop a comment below.
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