President Muhammadu Buhari has launched the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP), designed to create new job opportunities for 20,000 fresh graduates annually.
Buhari launched the programme on Tuesday at the presidential villa, Abuja.
In his remarks at the ceremony, the president assured that the programme would provide an opportunity for mentors already engaged in various industries with relevant experience and built capacity over the years to provide mentorship and support for young Nigerians.
Buhari said, “Beyond the skills and work experience, we will be building a new culture of mentorship and guidance that can chart a new course for skills development and work experience in our country.
“We believe that as this programme creates new opportunities for 20,000 recent graduates annually, the beneficiaries will use the opportunities presented to them and maximize their 12 months of engagement.
“The jubilee programme will provide a pathway for young Nigerians to gain work experience in top tier organizations, gaining relevant skills and building the right networks for the future in various sectors including information and communications technology, financial services, trade, manufacturing, agriculture and agro-processing.
“Other sectors include mining, telecommunications, creative industries and technology, education, health, research and development, and public sector institutions. We believe that building the right skills and experiences across these sectors are important to sustain the economic growth we are experiencing.
“I would like to say thank you to the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union for their support on this vital initiative. And I hereby declare the program open.’’
President Buhari also encouraged all eligible Nigerians to apply for the jubilee programme, while urging private sector organizations to join by providing work placement opportunities, mentors and funding.
He said, “Tuesday, 22nd June, 2021, I set-up the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS) steering committee to coordinate our work to fulfil my promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years. This is building on the positive results from the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan and the targeted response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with the Economic Sustainability Plan.
“These efforts have yielded results with Nigeria recording its biggest economic growth in six years with a GDP growth of 5 per cent in the second quarter of 2021. The sectors that drove this growth are trade, telecommunications, transportation, electricity, agriculture and manufacturing. Each of these sectors showed significant improvement and thus created more jobs for our populace.
“An important part of our policies and strategies is the focus on employment and creating opportunities for our people. When this government was elected in 2015, we committed to increasing job opportunities for Nigerians and as part of our social investments programme we recruited 500,000 graduates into our N-power programme.’’
