The number of graduate applicants in the N-Power
job recruitment scheme as at June 18, is 753,307, which has
exceeded by 2307, the number of both graduate and non-
graduate
applicants in 2016.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job
creation, Mr. Afolabi Imoukhuede, disclosed this to newsmen in Asaba, Delta, on
Sunday describing the figure as a landmark.
He said that
the figure for 2017 was generated barely five days after the application was
opened on June 14, while the applications for the previous year were got during
the two and half months it was opened.
According to the SSA, N-Teach, the
teacher volunteer aspect of the scheme, got the highest applications so far
with 470,456 while N-Agro the Agriculture extension section of the scheme
followed with 127,315 Vanguard reported.
He said that
N-Health generated 85,691 applications while the latest component, the N-Tax,
generated 69,842 applications in five days. Imoukhuede said that in 2016 the
total graduate applicants were 350,000 being less than 50 per cent of the
applications already received in less than one week of entries for 2017. He
said the reason for the large number of applications might be because “a lot of
graduates now have faith in the scheme unlike last year when many were a bit
skeptical and refused to apply.’’
He said that in spite of the number, the
Federal Government would restrict itself to the recruitment of 300,000
graduates in the current scheme in order not to exceed the programme’s budget
for the period. Imoukhuede hinted that the selection process would maintain
same transparency as in 2016 and expressed gratitude that the hiccup in 2016
registration was completely absent in 2017. He added that everyone to be
engaged this year must satisfy the recruitment requirements outlined in the
advertisement such as age and academic qualification as well as completion of
the NYSC scheme. The SSA noted that the N-Power was a lifeline provided by
Muhammadu Buhari administration to curb the high rate unemployment rate in the
country as promised during his presidential election campaign in 2015.
According to him, volunteerism is a global scheme performed free by those
working in other countries but Buhari has promised N30,000 monthly stipend to
each graduate volunteer in the country.
He advised the youth to take advantage
of the scheme to improve their employability skills and also add value to the
society especially in the rural areas. He said the N-Power had received a lot
of commendations from the public since its inception.
He showed newsmen a
particular commendation by one Lucky Odiase who also begged the“ leaders to let
N-power be the hub for employment to all federal jobs’’ because “it is so
transparent.’’
Other commendations had come from Olajide Abiola, Cyril Onyeama,
and Umar Mohammed who hailed the engagement of N-power with the youth on timely
responses to queries and concluded that it showed that “the country can get
things right’’.
One Gabriel Atume simply wrote “God Almighty will bless PMB
(Buhari) and Osinbajo a thousand folds for bringing dividends of democracy to
the grassroots’’. The applications for 2017 will last from June 14 through July
13.
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