Barth Ndubuwah,Port Harcourt
Contrary to insinuations from some quarters that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) programmes in Rivers State are either epileptic or non-existent,the State Coordinator,Mr Alfred Udoh has dispelled such rumour, insisting that NDE programmes in Rivers State are up and running.
Udoh made the clarification Tuesday in an exclusive interview with Nigerian NewsDirect Newspaper in Port Harcourt. According to him, there is hardly any quarter of the year that NDE under his watch does not have programmes.
He further explained that the programmes are usually directed from its Headquarters and that no State has the power to create any programme.
The Coordinator said virtually all the programmes of the Directorate touch on agriculture and education, citing the programme at the last quarter of 2020,where he said beneficiaries went home with starter-packs as a classical example.
Other programmes, he said include Advance National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (A-NOAS) and Basic National Open Apprenticeship Scheme(B-NOAS), among others.
On whether the public were effectively sensitized on these programmes before their commencement,the NDE Coordinator said enough enlightenment was done within the scope of the Directorate, stressing that preference was usually given to Radio Nigeria as a government station.
“Our programmes in the State are publicized,but we are careful because of the unemployment situation in the country. As a Federal Government Agency,we prefer FRCN for publicizing our programmes. The programmes depend on the directive of the Federal Government through the Ministry of Labour and Productivity,” Udoh said.
He equally said that precautions were taken in advertising the programmes, taking into consideration the high unemployment rate in country.
Commenting on the major challenges confronting the Agency, Mr Udoh said land space for crop demonstration remains a huge challenge. Another problem,he said is logistics.He pointed out that the NDE programmes in Rivers State are spread across almost all the twenty three local government areas,which makes it difficult to coordinate with the limited resources or logistics available.
Asked what the relationship of NDE and the Rivers State Government looks like,the Coordinator said it is cordial,but retorted that they have not been able to access the governor after several attempts.