[Mhiz Rebecca]

VP Osinbajo has said the FG will employ 200,000
Nigerians into civil service before the end of October
2016.
Osinbajo, who spoke to journalists at the
Presidential Villa, said a number of social
investment programmes of the Buhari presidency
has reached advanced stages.
The direct government jobs are meant to keep
young people occupied, pay them some amount of
money and also give them a device.
He said the device would also help them to learn
several skills that they could develop with time.
He said, “We expect that before the end of the
month, we will engage 200,000, out of the 500,000
unemployed graduates the Buhari administration
plans to hire in the N-Power jobs programme.
“We are hoping that before the end of the year we
should have engaged more.”
The vice president also disclosed that the Home-
Grown School Feeding programme was set to
begin in several states in October.
He said, “Definitely before the end of this month, we
expect that several states would have come on
stream with their Home-grown School Feeding
Programmes.
“The Home-Grown School Feeding programme will
energise agriculture in the states because it is what
you plant that you feed the children with.
“We will be hiring caterers, cooks, et cetera in each
state because it will be Federal Government-funded
from Primary One to Primary Three.
“The state governments hopefully would be able to
cater for the other classes.”
The vice president said that many states would
start implementing the Home-grown School
Feeding Programme before the end of October.
The Home-Grown School Feeding programme is
another section of the Social Investment
programmes that impact directly on the lives of
Nigerian children and families.
The VP also stated that the Micro-Credit scheme
for no fewer than one million Nigerian artisans,
traders, market women and others would also
commence in October.
He said, “For women across the country, we are
giving loans, micro credit loans to about 1.5 million
women; we are focusing on market women and
artisans, loans between N60,000 and 100,000 each.
“We are working through the Bank of Industry. They
are going to be giving out these loans, we‘ve
already identified the banks and everybody who is
involved in this.”
The vice president reassured Nigerians that the
current administration was well focused on
ameliorating the plight of the citizens of the country.
He noted that the administration was feeling the
pains of the citizens and was committed to
assuaging them.
On the economy, Osinbajo said government was
committed to developing it to enable citizens to find
opportunities within the country.
He said, “I want to assure Nigerians that the
government of President Buhari is a very focused
and determined government.
“We are committed to ensuring that we are able to
develop the Nigerian economy in such a way that
Nigerians are able to find opportunities in their own
country.”