Alhaji Ismaila Umar, the Director, South-South Zonal Office of National Directorate of Employment (NDE), says that the agency has put measures in place to create more employment for youths in the state.
Umar told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar that the NDE would create as many employment opportunities as possible to enable the youth to become self-reliant.
“We are sure that we are going to double our efforts to create as many employment opportunities as possible for youths to be self-reliant in this state.
?“We have been doing it here since 1987. Now, with an additional zonal office in the state, the result you will see will be more than double,’’ he said.
The zonal director said that the NDE management decided to create zonal offices in the states across the country so as to ensure effective monitoring of the agency’s programmes in various zones of the country.
Umar said that in each of the country’s six geopolitical zones, there would be one zonal office to monitor the implementation of NDE programmes in states under that zone.
He, however, stressed that Cross River was the first state in South-South geopolitical zone to donate an office to the NDE.
He noted that the resources, which the agency would have used to rent an office, would now be channelled toward job creation efforts.?
Umar said that the creation of a zonal office in Cross River would also foster the creation of employment opportunities in the rural areas of the state.
“The presence of a zonal office in the state will ensure that all the jobs designed to be created in Cross River are not only created but created in all places including the rural areas,’’ he added.
Umar said that the agency would ensure that the number of male and female beneficiaries of its youth empowerment programme was balanced.
He also pledged the readiness of the NDE to collaborate with Cross River State Government to empower youths in the state. (NAN)