Gombe- Mrs Amaka Asiegbu, Senior Executive Officer, Federal Ministry of Finance Graduate Internship Scheme, said 100 additional graduates had been trained under the Graduate Internship Scheme of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) in Gombe.
Asiegbu made this known on Monday in Gombe at the opening of the second batch of the training workshop, adding that the training was part of Federal Government’s initiatives to empower graduates.
She said the graduates would be under the programme for 12 months and thereafter be attached to various government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
According to her, each intern will be paid N30,000 each by the Federal Governments as allowance.
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Asiegbu encouraged the participants to take advantage of the scheme as it would help them in future.
The senior executive officer said government was also encouraging NGOs to retain the interns at the end of the programme if they showed commitment.
In his remarks, Mr Segun Ijagbemi, a Consultant with FAJ-J Ventures, Coordinators of the programme, said that the aim of the training was to reduce the rate of unemployment in Nigeria.
Ijagbemi said the programme would also prepare the interns for their future as they would have gained some work experience.
“Youth empowerment is one of the cardinal points of the Federal Government through SURE-P.’’
One of the participants, Miss Rachael James, a graduate of Business Education from University of Maiduguri, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that her expectations at the end of the training was to gain more knowledge that would prepare her in future.
James said she was deployed to Government Secondary School, Pindiga, to teach and that she was enjoying her job.
“I am appealing to government to retain us after the one year programme,” she said.
Malam Auwal Adamu, another participant and a Geography Education graduate also from University of Maiduguri, commended the Federal Government for introducing the programme. (NAN)