The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) will focus on the creation of sustainable empowerment programmes, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has said.
 
Speaking while she paid an on-the-spot assessment to the headquarters of the NDE in Abuja, which is currently undergoing construction, Onyejeocha stressed the importance of permanently settling the empowered trainees of the NDE.
 
“We have a lot of programmes on training but making sure that people that are empowered stay empowered and do not return to the streets is very important. Employment is about empowerment and the new phase we are entering now is to make sure that when we empower people, the people are not going to go back to the streets. So, we are looking at empowerment and employment that are not only sustainable but are fit for purpose,” she stated.
 
She insisted that the NDE has moved from the era of three to four days of training, giving trainees N20,000 or N50000, saying: “We have moved from this type of training to a training that is strictly based on what the trainees are interested in doing. You do not force people to train in skills that they don’t like.”
 
The Minister of State revealed that the NDE is conducting a NEEDS assessment exercise on the kind of training it ought to embark on that will add value to society.
 
“There is an ongoing in-house programme that is aimed at assessing what people need and we are also trying to get graduates to join the training because everybody will not be able to use their certificate to get a job. Training a graduate who knows will be easier than an illiterate. If such people are empowered, the government will be rest assured that they will not go back to the streets. This is the kind of programme Nigerians should be expecting from the Ministry of Labour and Employment in 2024,” she stated.
 
Onyejeocha also said that the Ministry will focus on factory inspection this year to ensure workers are not exposed to occupational hazards. She added: “One of the mandates of the occupational safety and health department is to register factories, inspect factories to renew licensees’ and give licenses to factories. There is no doubt that many factories are not taking care of the health of their workers. Two weeks ago, we sealed one factory because workers were put in harm’s way. We are determined to increase factory inspections in 2024. Nigerians should expect that factories must be registered under us, their license must be renewed every year and we must inspect their facilities and environment to make sure that they are not killing Nigerians or their workers.” 
 
She also reiterated her commitment to working with industrial unions to ensure industrial harmony.

“We will collaborate with the unions because if they do not know what we are doing, they may not even understand that we care for them. The workers are their people, they are the members of unions and so from this year, once we are going for inspection, we will invite them to join so that they will be able to see how the companies, factories or industries are treating their members,” she said.
 
Onyejeocha stated that the NDE headquarters, when completed, would provide a conducive environment for staff members where quality work would be delivered and improved productivity possible.
 
The Minister commended the company handling the project, M/s Skaldon International Limited for its professionalism and quality of work and urged the firm to deliver the project within the first quarter of this year.
 
Speaking earlier, the Director General of the National Directorate of Employment, Abubakar Fikpo, lauded the Federal Government for providing a befitting space for the Directorate to operate.