The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has presented business starter packs to 107 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) trained under its programme for rebuilding North-East.
Speaking at the graduation of the trainees and presentation of starter packs on Friday in Yola, the Executive Secretary of board, Mr Simbi Kesiye, said the beneficiaries of the programme known as Fair Chance Initiative (FCI), were selected from insurgency affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
“NCDMB decided to support four key initiatives tailored to provide humanitarian assistance and rebuild communities. We are here today for one of the initiatives, which is the Fair Chance Initiative.
“It is conceived as a capacity building initiative to empower internally displaced youths and women in the North-East,” Kesiye said.
He said that the youths, trained in various vocations including plumbing, electrical installation, carpentry, GSM phone repairs, soap and bead making, would be linked with market opportunities and business mentorship support.
Kesiye added that the beneficiaries would be monitored for some time to ensure full integration into the business world.
“Before the end of July, the participants will begin the next phase which is the entrepreneurial development component.
“We are going to attach them to established companies that specialise in the areas they were trained.
“Other projects we are executing in support of President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan for the North-East is known as the Neighbourhood projects where we set out to construct 90 model homes in settlements that were previously destroyed in Borno state,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Yemi Folasade, lauded the intervention by NCDMB which she said was part of support from the oil and gas industry towards the ongoing rebuilding and rehabilitation of the North-East.
In a message to the event, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustafa, represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr Polycarp Tshambo, also lauded the initiative.
Mustafa urged beneficiaries of the training programme to use the opportunity not only to set up their businesses but to be employers of labour.
Others who spoke at the event included Managing Director of the North-East Development Commission, Alhaji Goni Alkali, and Executive Vice Chairman, Victims Support Fund, Alhaji Tijjani Tumsa.
They hailed the high involvement of women in the programme and urged beneficiaries to ensure maximum use of the opportunity to pick up their lives once again.
Jamila Kabiru and Mustafa Abdullahi, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, expressed gratitude for the support and vowed not to disappoint government and their families for the opportunity given to them.
