Again, 774,000 Jobs Fail To Take Off

Some states and certain logistics are delaying the take off of the 774,000 jobs, which the Federal Government has offered to roll out, The Nation reports.

The National Directorate of Employment, which oversees the stop-gap jobs, has however, written a status report to the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), who supervises the scheme.

It was learnt that a new date for the commencement of the Public Special Works Programme might be announced today (Thursday).

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A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The original design of the 774,000 is to have a uniform take off in all the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

“As at December 1, we discovered that some states were not ready.

“We also have issues with logistics which are still being addressed, including cash backing for the job scheme. The government is expected to bankroll the 774,000 jobs with N52billion but it is yet to be released.

“Some of the logistics have to do with the job modalities following the scrambling for the slots by governors, ministers, senators and members of the House of Representatives.

“We have learnt that the Director – General of NDE, Dr. Nasir Mohammed Ladan, has sent a status report to the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), who supervises the scheme.

“Everything now depends on the Minister of State to iron out and fix the roll out date. I think Keyamo will soon make a pronouncement.”

This is the second time the government will shift the take-off date for the jobs due to the problem of logistics and official differences between the minister and the DG of NDE.

The government shifted the October 1 timeline to kickstart the three-month employment scheme to December 1.

But while the applicants were expecting offers on December 1 (Tuesday), the government glossed over the date without any commitment.