774,000 Jobs: Festus Keyamo Gives Update On Scheme

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, on Monday, noted that the Federal Government failed to distribute expensive equipment for the Special Public Works Programme because of the short term nature of the scheme.
Keyamo who took to his Twitter account noted that it would not be advisable for the government to buy expensive equipment with billions and spend millions to train the labourers on how to use the equipment.

The minister was spotted in viral photos sharing wheelbarrows and cutlasses to beneficiaries of the Special Public Works Programme.

The minister tweeted, “The 774,000 jobs is basically for our everyday labourers to carry out community services.”

“It would not be financially prudent if govt were to spend billions on expensive equipment for 3-month jobs, then spend millions again training our labourers on how to use this equipment.”

Press Informant had earlier reported that Keyamo disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the commencement of the initiative.

The programme, which would engage 774,000 unemployed Nigerians, started last week after it was initially scheduled for launch on October 1, 2020.

The programme, designed to employ 1,000 Nigerians from each of the 774 local government areas in the country was initially scheduled for launch on October 1, last year but it ran into hitches following the power play between Keyamo and the Director-General, National Directorate of Employment, Nasir Ladan, who was sacked last month.

Each of the 774,000 workers will earn N20,000 monthly for three months duration of the job, amounting to about N46.44 billion.