President Muhammadu Buhari has requested the appropriation of N157.75 billion in the 2017 budget estimates for the N-Power scheme to hire additional 350,000 unemployed graduates under the N-Power Volunteer Corps.
Mr. Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity to Acting President Yemi Osinabjo made the disclosure on Sunday while giving update on the Social Investment Programmes, SIPs, of the Buhari’s presidency in a statement.
He said that out of the N-Power 2017 N157 billion budget ” 350,000 unemployed graduates more would be hired and trained, alongside 50,000 non-graduates youths to be engaged as artisans and in other creative ventures”.
He also stated that “Under the N157.75 also, a sum of N4.5B has been earmarked for the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, STEM program to support young Nigerians in building skills in those disciplines.”
Akande told Nigerians to expect more this year especially in the area of implementation, saying that all of the SIPs are now undergoing different stages of implementation.
“While we were able to engage 200,000 unemployed graduates last year, we will do 350,000 more this year,” he assured, adding that some of the teething problems are giving way to lessons that would smoothen implementation under the 2017 budget.
The vice presidential spokesman further disclosed that “about N75 billion has been allocated for the National Homegrown School Feeding Programme, which will provide one hot meal a day to 5 million primary school pupils”.
He explained that “this would certainly be an improvement on how far the feeding programme has been implemented so far under the 2016 budget which has so far attained the feeding of
about one million pupils.”
Akande also stated “that under the 2017 budget a sum of N112.2B has been allocated for the
Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, GEE, aimed at providing interest-free loans to up to 1.2million market men and women, traders, artisans, youth