stipends for beneficiaries of the N-Power scheme, the job creation
programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Laolu
Akande, the senior special assistant, media and publicity, office of
the vice-president, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency
of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, December 30, stating that: “all successfully
verified beneficiaries who have provided bank accounts are being
processed for payment’’.
According to him “some beneficiaries will receive their first stipends on December 30.’’
Akande said the process of payment would continue after the New Year
public holiday, urging beneficiaries of subsequent batch of the scheme
to take their virtual training seriously.
He also encouraged states who had yet to conclude the physical
verification process to do so, “as that would enable the N-Power
beneficiaries in those states to draw from its benefits &
empowerment offers.’’
The N-Power programme is designed to engage the massive numbers of
unemployed Nigerian graduates from tertiary institutions across the
country.
The unemployed graduates selected for the N-POWER programme are given
assignments that will help to address issues in schools, hospitals and
other areas in communities across the country.
A total of 150,000 out of the 200,000 selected in the first phase of
the scheme would be deployed as support teachers to help address
shortage of teachers in schools at the basic and secondary levels.
Another 30, 000 graduates would work as extension workers in various
communities which will expectedly aid the government’s diversification
agenda.
Meanwhile, the federal government has confirmed the release of
N25billion funds for the payment of N5,000 monthly stipends to
unemployed graduates.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed
said, the funds were for the social intervention programmes of the
administration and she added that an additional N40billion would also
soon be released to the initial N25billion.
