NDE Trains 41,000 Youths in Agriculture, Solar Energy Across Nigeria

News in Brief:

-Over 41,000 youths are undergoing skills training under NDE’s Renewed Hope Empowerment Initiative across Nigeria.

-The programme covers key areas including agriculture, renewable energy, and small-scale enterprises to promote self-reliance and tackle unemployment.

The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has disclosed that over 41,000 Nigerian youths are currently participating in various skill acquisition programmes across the country under the Renewed Hope Empowerment Initiative (RHEI). This training, which covers all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), aims to equip young Nigerians with marketable skills for self-reliance and job creation.

Second Phase of Renewed Hope Empowerment Initiative

Speaking in Abuja, the Director-General of NDE, Silas Agara, said the ongoing phase of the RHEI targets 41,307 youths across Nigeria. He reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to reducing unemployment and poverty through skill-based empowerment.

“Presently, about 41,307 youths are undergoing training across the country under the four core programmes,” Agara stated. “We remain fully committed to reducing unemployment and poverty to the barest minimum, as there is no alternative to doing so.”

Agara, represented by Amiola Muftau at the 2025 Annual Conference of the Labour Correspondents Association of Nigeria (LACAN), revealed that over 33,886 youths had been trained in the first phase of the RHEI in 2024, while 4,683 beneficiaries were resettled with loans, starter packs, and business tools to start small-scale enterprises.

Training Across Key Employment Programmes

The Directorate’s activities, he said, are anchored on four core programmes: Vocational Skills Development (VSD), Small Scale Enterprises (SSE), Rural Employment Promotion (REP), and Special Public Works (SPW). Each programme targets a specific segment of Nigeria’s unemployed population.

Training schemes include the Basic and Advanced National Open Apprenticeship Schemes, Community-Based Training Scheme, and School-on-Wheels under VSD; Start-Your-Own-Business and Women Empowerment Branch under SSE; and agric-focused programmes such as the Sustainable Agricultural Development Training Scheme and Poultry and Fish Farming Production Training Schemes under REP.

Under SPW, beneficiaries are being trained in Graduate Attachment and Solar Energy Systems, in line with national efforts to boost renewable energy and youth employability.

Agara emphasised that skill acquisition and enterprise creation are central to Nigeria’s economic recovery, particularly in agriculture, renewable energy, and small business development.