N5, 000 stipend is not free money, Ngige insists

By Ali Smart

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, on Thursday cleared the air on the much hyped N5, 000 unemployment benefits from the federal government, saying the allowance was not meant for the indolent and unproductive but for those undergoing different skill acquisition programmes.

Ngige also hinted that some people will be paid N5000 under the cash conversion scheme while others may also get between N10,000 -N15,000 while in training.

On the modalities of the scheme, he said: “It is not a programme we shall run alone, the state governments are going to buy into it, they are going to synchronize with us, we are going to do it in synergy.”

The present administration, he noted, has mapped out some poverty alleviating and employment generating programs for Nigerians which will be carried out by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Labour and Employment.

On the planned Skills Acquisition Scheme, Ngige said “The Ministry has specialists skills acquisition centres. “We have seven like that base in the ministry under the commissioner of skills or directorate for skills.

“The NDE have over 120 centres scattered all over the country, we also have those that have been built by state governments and we want to capture all of these into that scheme and then get people to the scheme; to be bricklayers, to be POP designers, builders, welders, electronics repairer and the one they called Mechatronics, repair of vehicles, automobile, carpentry, painting and fabrication of all sorts.

“We are going to do it, teach people, give them certification, because many people do not know that Ministry of Labour is the only place that can certify tradesmen. This skills acquisition centres are in grades, we have grade A certification, Grade B, Grade C, D and E Certification, they all still exist.

“So we want to get back our youths, capture them, teach them to use their hands, and when they used their hands, they can earn money by employing themselves. If you get a bricklayer, or a painter today, you cannot pay less than N5000 for a daily job.

“If somebody is able to work 20 days in a month for N5000, he already has N100,000. But, today it is a sad story that Togolese, Ghanaians, people from Benin Republic, people from Niger Republic that do all these skilled job for us.”

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