The Benue State chapter of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) has selected 3,000 unemployed persons from the 23 Local Government Area of the State to participate in Community Services Scheme.
Those recruited into the programme, according to SURE-P would be paid N10, 000 monthly stipends for rendering various services to their communities.
Addressing the participants at a 2-day orientation and biometric data capturing exercise held simultaneously in the three senatorial zones of the State, the State Chairman of SURE-P, Samuel Utoo, an engineer said President Goodluck Jonathan has mandated the State to employ 3,000 unemployed persons for the first batch of the scheme which has a target of providing 10,000 jobs for Benue State.
According to a press statement, Utoo warned those selected for the programme not to see the N10, 000 monthly stipend as free money, adding that they would be deployed to render community-oriented services, such as maintenance of community infrastructures including healthcare facilities, drainages, markets and vigilance groups among other services.
Utoo who was the State Co-ordinator of the Goodluck Jonathan presidential campaign explained that the Federal Government is concerned about the growing rate of youth unemployment in the country and the economic hardship occasioned by the partial removal of oil subsidy, hence the Dr. Christopher Kolade led SURE-P committee was raised “to evolve measures aimed at reinvesting the subsidy money for the development of rural communities”.
Also speaking at the event at Gbajimba, Guma Local Government Area, a member of the State Implementation Committee (SIC) and co-ordinator for Benue Central Senatorial zone, Mrs. Dooshima Jibo explained that SURE-P was a multi-sectoral programme of the Federal Government designed to tackle unemployment and improve infrastructure.
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She said 30 per cent of the beneficiaries would be women and urged women in the State to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the programme to better their lot.
Addressing the beneficiaries separately at the data capturing exercise at Otukpo, a member of the SIC and Co-ordinator for Benue South Senatorial District, Mr. Fabian Agada and his counterpart in Benue North Senatorial zone, Mr. Stephen Manta who supervised the exercise at Sankera, Ukum LGA, said they should consider themselves lucky to have been selected to benefit from the first phase of the programme.
They warned that those who are not prepared for the kind of odd jobs they would be required to perform under the community services scheme should gracefully opt out, as the Committee would not pay absentee or indolent workers.
The Community Services, Women and Youth Employment (CSWYE) project of SURE-P is being implemented by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) whose State Co-ordinator, Mr. Ocheme Adoga is the vice chairman of the SURE-P implementation committee in Benue State with three senatorial co-odinators and Federal appointee and Samuel Utoo as Chairman.
The biometric data capturing exercise, according to the zonal co-ordinators, was to enable the SURE-P committee gather reliable information that would facilitate the payment of the N10, 000 monthly stipends to them.
Source:
Guardian News