Vice President Osinbajo Address The Public on his Visit Today To the N-Power Situation Room

Vice President Osinbajo Address The Public on his Visit Today To the N-Power Situation Room. He shared the article below on his Facebook page:

Today, I visited the N-Power Situation Room.

Our Youth are the most important and dynamic segment of our population.  The path to tremendous economic growth and national prosperity is attainable if the energies of our young people are harnessed and channeled appropriately.

The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari introduced N-Power as a large-scale skills development programme to ensure that our young citizens get employed.

In 2016, the Federal Government undertook the largest post-tertiary recruitment exercise in Africa when it engaged 200,000 young Nigerians in the N-Power Volunteer Corps.

N-Power ties into the Federal Government’s social and economic reform priorities. Our 2017-2020 development plan- the Nigeria Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (NERGP) identifies and prioritises the large-scale development of relevant skills for young citizens as a key driver of job creation and economic growth. By the investment in our youth through the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), the Federal Government is playing a crucial role in bolstering the human capital of the nation’s workforce.

More motivating for me is to hear the personal testimonies of our young participants in N-Power. I’ve heard about restored dignity just as families have been lifted by the contribution our young citizens are now able to make.  The walls around are filled with these inspiring stories, just as every local government in Nigeria has felt the impact of N-Power. In partnership with State Governments, these 200,000 young Nigerians were deployed to public primary schools, primary healthcare centres and in agriculture development project centres in all the Local Government Areas in Nigeria. Our strategy has been to use the large volunteer workforce to address some of the perennial problems that beset our nation- unmanned classrooms due to low teacher to pupil ratio in public primary schools; high rate of preventable diseases; lack of science and knowledge to bolster agriculture production.

In addition, N-Power is also a tool for diversifying the economy. Particularly, N-Power Agro provides not only the means to apply knowledge and science to our farming practices, but also to gather data for effective planning. 

This year, N-Power is recruiting an additional 300,000 to bring the total number 500,000. The application process has seen well over 2 million applicants. We must assure everyone once again, that just as the first batch, the selection process will be transparent, fair and objective. The hallmark of the N-Power process, as indeed all other Social Investments Programmes, has been run to be devoid of manipulation and undue influence to reach the common Nigerians who really need help.  

It gives me great pleasure to activate the delivery process for the N-Power Devices. Our administration is determined to utilise technology to drive some of our public sector needs. Effective large scale training for 500,000 young Nigerians would have been impossible without technology. With the devices, we are able to provide training on 3 fronts. First, build capacity to undertake primary assignments, secondly, build capacity to make young people employable and thirdly, build capacity around exit skills to prepare them for more economic endeavours.

Also, working with the Bank of Industry, we have been able to stimulate demand for tablets and content that has been supplied by Nigerian vendors.

In all, I will like to urge the beneficiaries who will receive these devices to be reflective.  You must take your learning seriously. Also, you must appreciate and protect this privilege, as there are still many of our fellow compatriots who need hope, encouragement and help in their own lives. You must keep being confident to reaffirm within your community that change is achievable if we all commit to doing our very best. This is why when some thought it impossible; our government grasped the responsibility to invest in as many of our young people as possible. Now is the time to join in this conviction that Nigeria can change for the good of all its citizens.

#NPowerNG

Source:https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1245714568872240&id=633018823475154