774,000 Local Government Jobs: FG To Engage Beneficiaries As Agric Extension Workers

The beneficiaries of the 774, 000 job scheme of the Federal Government will not be disengaged after three months, but will be used as agricultural extension workers thereafter.

The Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment, Mohammed Nasir Ladan Argungu disclosed.

“I believe is one of the most important (objective of the scheme). We’re not just to engage 1, 000 young men and women in each local government after three months…We have carried out studies across the nation, we are going to use these young men and women as agricultural extension workers. We’ve put everything in place, we did some studies,” he said.

Argungu, who is the chairman of the selection committee of the scheme, raised the alarm that some people wanted to manipulate the process.

“A group of people think they can maneuver things. It’s a federal government project and we will never allow it to fail because they don’t know the concept, they are just beating about the bush,” he said.

He said the scheme was, among other things, aimed at boosting micro economy. “We are talking of the money that is in circulation at the grass root. N52 billion to our local governments, you can imagine the impact as far as micro economy is concerned.”

He also said the scheme would bring employment to the beneficiaries’ door steps, mitigate the rural-urban migration, preach to the people the need for living in peace and harmony as well as self-reliance.

The NDE boss added the Special Public Works would also promote community supervision.

He stated: “For us to move forward, we have to sustain whatever we are doing and that is what we are planning to do.”