From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
The Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programs (NJFP) has declared its commitment to bridging the high rate of unemployment amongst young graduates in the country.
It should be noted that the NJFP is a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) co-funded by the European Union and domiciled in the office of the Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima.
A Fellow and Partnership Lead for North Central Talent Management Committee for NJFP , Yemi Olufade, told newsmen at a feedback workshop held at the Innovation Hub 17 in Makurdi, that the program commenced only in 2021.
He explained that the main aim of the NJFP is connecting young graduates, post service with job opportunities and local businesses which is called host organizations of the program.
He added: “The goal of the program is to bridge the unemployment and employability gap. The hope is that when we connect them with these businesses, they can acquire skills that can serve them after their 12 months internship. Skills that can make them marketable.
“Most people come out of school and do not get jobs because they do not have skills but the hope is that when they pass through this program, they will acquire skills that they need and that will enhance their employability in the long run.
“Looking back over the last four years, initially it started with a pool of 20,000 young graduates, thus far across the nation, the program has done more than 15,000 or more young people who have passed through or currently in the program. Most of them have been retained and employed, some have gone on to start their own businesses.
“Some have saved money from their internship because they were paid stipend of 100,000 naira during the 12 month internship. Some have saved the money and start up businesses and others have gone ahead to be retained in the organization they served.
“We have also enjoyed the partnership of some state governments, parastatals and MDAs that have supported the program and absorbed the Fellows. The unemployment gap is still very high, we must accept that reality but the NJFP have been able to contribute its quota of course.
“The 15,000 number is compared to those who are without a job or unemployed is a small number but it is something and hope that in the coming years, as the program is re-energized, we will help more young people.
“Our target for the future, we are looking at doing over 40, 000 people in the next one year. The goal is to do what we have done in the last 4 years, in one year.
“We intend to do like 16,000 and if we are able to do that consistently in the next 5 years, we would have been able to do get 64,000 or over 70,000 young graduates employed. So, we hope that little by little, we would be able to close that gap. That is what we are looking at in the future.”
He continued: “My responsibility is to oversee the implementation of the program, lead and manage the team for the North Central region.
“The essence of today’s event is to get feedback from the host organizations, that is the businesses where these fellows are hosted. What they feel about the program, their concerns and the things they can tell us that we can go back to the drawing board and do better.
“When you design a program and implement it, there may be hitches that you might not see from your own end but the beneficiaries can”.
In her testimony, Mrs Yakabu Susan, a host and Proprietor of Yeshua Vessel Academy, Makurdi, said her experience with NJFP has been an exceptional one.
According to her: “I learnt about the program on the page of the Proprietors of Nigeria because am one of them. So, when I saw it, I clicked on the link, applied and immediately I got responses.
“ They came for inspection, sent people to interview me and not long people reported to my school. So am a fantastic beneficiary and they pay these people to work in my school. So, it is something good that I did not even imagine existed.
“I have not heard of this before. I expect the Fellows who are working with children to be morally sound and my experience with this first set of people that were sent to my school was relatively good but need improvement.”
Not left out, Nule Blessing, a NJFP Fellow, who served at Yeshua Vessels Academy, Makurdi said with the help of NJFP, she learnt time management, how to go about her lesson notes as well as the strategies involved in educational system, adding that with the experience garnered she can establish her dream school.
On his part, Tamen Kuma, co-founder of Hub 17 Innovation Space said NJFP have been very beneficial to him, saying they have fix some of these spaces that ordinarily would have cost them a lot to get to fix.
“ Even though we contributed in their upgrade in terms of skills. They have been very dedicated. We are the ones paying them (Fellows) and they have been diligent to their jobs.
“When they were matched to us, some of them were even alien as they did not even know what a modern work space look like. So, in the first 2 months, we were very critical to make them gain experience in modern workspace and digital skills.
“ In just six months, one of them is already doing a lot in graphic design while the other is into data analysis and they are doing fine. They are learning valuable skills that will make them self employed. It is left for them to showcase their portfolios in the society.
“They can transfer these skills to others.. A lot of people are not yet aware of the wonderful work this program have been doing so I feel a lot of visibility need to be done so that people know about this program and the wonderful work NJFP is doing”, he stressed.
