FG plans 490,000 jobs

 The Federal Government says it is ready to create 490,000 jobs through Smart Farmer Scheme to enable youths to maximise productivity in agricultural value chain.

It added that the scheme was meant to diversify the country’s economy and make agriculture lucrative to Nigerians.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said this in Lagos during the National Directorate of Employment Special Day, a statement said on Wednesday.

He said the government, through the NDE, had inaugurated the Smart Farmer ICT platform in Abuja, assuring the public that the government would not relent in its efforts in designing relevant and sustainable schemes to create jobs.

The minister said, “The Smart Farmer’s Scheme of the Federal Government will create about 490,000 jobs into the economy in the next three years. Another scheme, Agricultural Park, with a pilot scheme in Sabuwa, Katsina State, and Akunnu, Ondo State, will soon be inaugurated. This scheme will create another 3,000 jobs.”

Ngige enjoined beneficiaries of NDE Programmes to be steadfast in their chosen businesses with the ultimate objectives of becoming employers of labour.

The Director General of NDE, Mr. Kunle Obayan, said the directorate was committed to providing innovative job models that would continue to complement the micro economic policies of the Federal Government.

“In pursuit of this objective, the NDE is making concerted efforts towards the manufacturing of tooth-picks and pencils locally,” he added.