GEEP LAUNCHES PIONEER BENEFICIARIES

Prof. Eric Eboh disclosed this at a meeting convened by the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer in partnership with IMC Limited to officially launch the nine (9) pioneer beneficiaries of GEEP as Agricultural Supervisors (03/02/17).

He noted that the employment was facilitated by the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer in response to the demand of IMC Limited that a list of graduates who studied Agricultural Science be sent to the company for recruitment.

Acting on the request, “a pool of candidates were forwarded to the company from the data base of unemployed graduates based on the specification given by the company, out of which their preferred candidates were shortlisted and invited for interviews”, he further said.

While congratulating them for their appointments as Agricultural Supervisors, Prof Eboh pointed out that their employment was made possible because the Office of the Chief Job Creation Officer linked them up to IMC Limited. 

Prof Eboh reiterated the State Government’s commitment to tackling youth unemployment through its job creation programmes such as the Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP), the Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP) and the Graduate Employment Enhancement Programme (GEEP).

He said GEEP is specially designed to cater for a category of graduates with professional training such as engineers, architects, surveyors, agricultural and laboratory scientists to mention but few, adding that GEEP was introduced in three categories.

Listing the categories as “Industrial Work Experience and Internship Facility,” “Job Facilitation and Linkage Facility” and “Business Incubation Support Facility,” Prof Eboh explained that the State Government sponsors professional graduates to private companies and establishments to enable them get industrial work experience under the “Industrial Work Experience Facility.”

He added that the State Government is working with some construction companies to engage professionals as engineers, architects and surveyors as interns and that they would be paid by the State Government with the hope that within their internship period, they would have proved themselves sufficiently to merit employment by the companies.

He said the “Job Facilitation Linkage Facility” provides information between job seekers and employers based on the vacancies available and the demand made by the employer as exemplified by the newly employed Agricultural Supervisors, stressing that the decision to select, recruit and employ is the exclusive right of the company.

According to him, the third is the ‘’Business Incubation Support Facility,” which offers support to like-minded professionals to partner among themselves in order to register a company in which they would practise their profession.

On his part, the General Manager of IMC Limited, Mr Sebastian Olomu, charged the pioneer beneficiaries of GEEP to be committed, dedicated and self-accounting in the discharge of their duties.

He assured them of a conducive work environment with opportunity for career prospects.

In another development, the State Chief Job Creation Officer, Prof Eric Eboh, played host to the newly sworn-in State Executive Council (SEC) of the State Chapter of National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) who were on a courtesy visit to him. 

Prof Eboh affirmed his readiness to partner with the new executive of NYCN in the implementation of the State Government’s job creation programmes as STEP, YAGEP and GEEP.

He said the State Government is already harvesting the fruits of these programmes, stating that 1300 persons benefited from STEP and YAGEP in the 2015 Cycle, adding that about 1000 persons, including the physically challenged, are undergoing trainings at different training/internship centres across the state in the 2016 cycle while 9 beneficiaries of GEEP were recently employed as Agricultural Supervisors with IMC Limited, Nsukwa.