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FG To Collaborate With Mastercard Fund To Create Job Opportunities For Nigerian Youth

Published

6 months ago

March 19, 2024

Joel Ajayi
The Federal Government has disclosed its intention to collaborate with the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Resilience and Prosperity to create job opportunities for the Nigerian youths focusing on men, women, people living with disabilities, and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The Honourable Minister of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Bio-Ibrahim made the disclosure when she received the Grants, Finance, and Risk management officer of Mastercard Foundation Fund, Abraham Jeff Ndambuki, who paid her a visit in her office in Abuja.

The Minister said the Ministry is focusing on priority sectors of the Federal Government which are Agriculture, Climate Adaption, Digital Economy, Blue-economy, Mining, and Renewable Energy so as to establish young people in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

She expressed the preparedness of the Ministry to partner with the Mastercard foundation and advised that participants for the programme should be selected in clusters so that each participant can leverage on the advantage of the others within the same cluster. She posited that this approach would provide greater opportunities for more young entrepreneurs to benefit from the fund.

The Minister promised to provide the foundation with a database of young people who will be beneficiaries and will ensure that the businesses are sustainable and successful.

The Minister further said, *”We are also in the process of designing a framework for the Youth Development Bank. The Youth Investment Fund is in the review process. We want to improve and expand on this programme. We will operationalize the fund. We are well open to ideas on how we can work together and collaborate on those Government priority sectors.”

In his presentation, the Manager Grants, Finance and Risk for the Mastercard Foundation Funds for Prosperity and Resilient, Mr. Ndambuki revealed that the programme had been implemented in 20 African countries, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria is one of them.

He said, *”We have engaged 35 different stakeholders including government officials and the private sector, the programme is in its second phase, the first phase was completed last year, and it lasted for ten years. It was valued at 50 million dollars, and we succeeded in disbursing the entire 50 million dollars across 8 countries.”

Ndambuki further said, “The foundation has come with a second phase and increased the amount to 126 million dollars, which is equivalent to approximately 194 billion naira in today’s rate. The organisation said it would last for the next seven years, so we are now in the first year which is the preliminary stage, that is why we are performing the visibility market research to identify and understand the Nigeria markets.”

He stated that Nigeria is the organisation’s central focus, adding that their presence in the country is to try to identify the key stakeholders they need to partner and engage with as they start the programme this April.

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Nigeria Will Take Good Shape In No Distant Time- Olawande

Published

6 hours ago

September 16, 2024

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of State for Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande has urged the citizens of the country to be patient with the Administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in transforming the lives of its citizens through various policies and programs of the federal government.

The Minister made this submission while delivering his speech at the Joint Union Negotiating Council’s week of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development branch. This is the first edition since both Ministries of Youth and Sports had been damaged. The JUNC week which was held at Atiku Hall, Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation in Abuja had its theme: “The working people in a volatile, uncertain, and complex economy”

In the words of the Honourable Minister: “I urge you to be patient with this administration. In no distant time, the country will take good shape and the lives of its citizens will be transformed”.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not a pauper, he is an acknowledged epitome of wealth, and so it cannot be said of him that he desires to loot the treasury of Nigeria. He has seen money and as a result of this, he is not interested in looting the nation’s treasury”, Olawande explained.

He emphasized that “leadership is all about being committed to serve. If you are a Minister now, tomorrow you will be addressed as a former Minister, likewise a Director because there is no permanent position but the impact that you made while in that office will speak after you”, the Minister reiterated.

Olawande expressed his gratitude to the workers of the Ministry for being supportive of the government policies and programs. He promised that the welfare of the staff would not be compromised, adding that workers deserve remuneration for being hardworking.

Earlier in his address, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Olubunmi Olusanya admonished the staff of the Ministry to put in their best as “Performance Management System” which replaces APER is the criteria to be used for promotion effective next year. This, according to him is because the Performance Management System (PMS) records the best efforts and input of each staff which will in turn be used to grade such staff.

Olusanya who disclosed that the welfare of the staff is his priority as workers deserve the best for the services rendered. He opined that “the hungry man is angry and as a worker, if you are not treated fairly and properly, it is impossible to get the best out of you. As a result, all staff will be treated properly as motivation to propel the best in you”, he concluded.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Esther Didi Walson-Jack, OON, MNI, in her address, informed that the activity to reinvigorate the Civil Service in a bid to ensure that Civil Servants carry out their duties with much diligence to have efficient and incorruptible civil service is currently on course. She advised workers to wake up and be committed to the service of the nation.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Jerry Akume, the General Secretary of the Union expressed his delight in celebrating this year’s edition of the Union week, while highlighting the achievements of the union so far. These include:

Upward review of staff welfare, prompt payment of repatriation allowances, payment of first 28 days allowance, assistance to the sick, general training of staff, and sending forth/retirement package for retired staff.

He also appealed to the Management of the Ministry, saying that irrespective of the aforementioned achievements, a lot still needs to be done in such areas as procurement of staff buses, upward review of welfare payment for festive periods, consistent general staff training, and procurement of office and work materials.

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