Five hundred and ten thousand youths across the country have been absorbed into the N-Power Batch C stream 1 exercise.
At the inauguration in Abuja, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management Hajiya Sadiya Umar-Farouq, said the selection criteria, was transparent and credible and urged the participants to utilize the opportunity given to them.
‘‘1,000,000 beneficiaries will be manned from this as the NPower Batch C. Batch C is divided into 2 streams. Stream C1 for 510,000 beneficiaries and stream C2 for 490,000 beneficiaries. Under the Batch C1, a total of 450,000 have been selected to benefit under the graduate component, while 60,000 beneficiaries will be non-graduate beneficiaries’’.
Hajiya Sadiya said some innovations were introduced to ensure a seamless exercise.
‘‘To ensure that the challenges of communication is addressed, most particularly as it relates to limitations on information flow and internet access across the country and in a bid to provide accessibility to all target programme applicants and beneficiaries, the Ministry has concluded to provide access to information via a USSD code’’.
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajiya Mariam Katagum who urged the youths to be good ambassadors implored other youths to take advantages of other empowerment programme.
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed noted that the program since inception had been a veritable tool for curbing youth’s restiveness.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Ifeoma Anyanwutaku, the Minister stressed the administration’s objective of lifting Nigerians out of poverty.
Some of the beneficiaries thanked the Federal Government for giving them the opportunity to service.
The N-Power program is a component of the National Social Investment Programme, NSIPs initiated in 2016 to address issues of youth unemployment and help increase social development.
At the initial take off with Batch A in 2016, Three hundred and fifty thousand youths benefitted and consequently three hundred thousand were absorbed in 2017 for Batch B.
RN