NDE empowers, resettles 26 Environmental Beautification Trainees in Enugu
The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Enugu, has given out equipment/tools, worth million of Naira, to beneficiaries of the Environmental Beautification Training Scheme (BETS).
The equipment include generator sets, pumping machines, Wheelbarrows, Shovels, Trowels, Cutting Saw, Head pans and Molds, among others.
The beneficiaries who are 26 in number underwent a three month intensive training on Hard and Soft Landscaping which include Horticulture, Interlocking, Plaster of Piracy, (POP) among others.
Speaking at the official presentation of the equipment to the beneficiaries at NDE office in Enugu, the Director General, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, urged them to make judicious use of the equipment/tools given to them to enable them repay the revolvong soft loan in good time.
Fikpo, represented by the South East Zonal Director, NDE, Mrs Ifeoma Ezepue, said they were privileged among many unemployed youths to be part of the scheme.
He said that the essence of their training and empowerment was to make them to be self-reliant and also become employers of labour.
The state coordinator of NDE, Enugu, Mr Eugene Agu, on his part, also encouraged the beneficiaries to make proper use of the equipment, saying that they were not given to them as part of their national cake since they are expected to pay back at a minimum rate.
Agu, however, said that NDE, in pursuit of its mandate of combating unemployment, encouraging wealth creation, and poverty reduction, decided to organise this orientation for participants in the EBTS.
He urged the participants to take the training seriously, noting that many of their colleagues would want to be part of this training but only few of them were accommodated.
The Head of Department, Special Public Works Department, Mrs Lucy Nna, advised the participants not to take the programme for granted, and said “as ambassadors of NDE, you should not steal or damage the trainers’ property so that the aim of the training would be achieved.”
Mrs. Francisca Ezeaku, who represented the Director of Special Public Works Department (SPWD), Abuja, Mrs Sylvia Roseline, while urging the beneficiaries to be good ambassadors of NDE, said that most people who have made it big on life started on a low scale and as such, they should not joke with the opportunity given to them to maximize themselves.
In the same vein, the Head of Department of SPWD in Enugu, Mrs Lucy Nna, advised the beneficiaries to always seek for assistance when necessary so that they would succeed in their chosen trade.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Peter Okoli, who was trained on Horticulture, said “We are very happy that we were given equipment to do our work. We are grateful.” he said. (NAN)
