By Abdallah el-Kurebe
One hundred beneficiaries in Sokoto on Thursday received resettlement starter packs and cash incentives through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE’s) Community Based Training Scheme (CBTS) Artisan Resettlement and Mentoring Scheme (ARMS).
Under the CBTS, 50 trained youth received starter packs for skills acquired in knitting, barbing, dyeing, dibila/snacks and sobo making machines.
According to the acting Director-General of NDE, Kunle Obayan who was represented, “one hundred persons previously trained by the NDE but were not immediately resettled, will receive cash enhancement in the form of soft loan to improve their already existing businesses under (ARMS).”
He explained that the CBTS was a demand-driven skills acquisition scheme designed to cater for rural communities. “The skills set are arrived at based on the needs of the benefiting community after their comparative advantages have been established,” he added.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige who was represented by the Director of Vocational Skills Development in the Federal Ministry, Engr. Ada Shuaibu disclosed that a total of 430 graduates of the National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (NOAS) had been empowered by the NDE in 18 states within three weeks.
“Another set of 370 artisans have received soft loans in cash to enhance their existing small scale businesses under ARMS,” Ngige added.
He assured that 1,800 new jobs would be created in the rural areas across the country in the next month.
