- Ministers, religious institutions, transport workers, women societies, CSOs get slots
- ’Oct. take off on course’
The wrangling over the 774,000 public works jobs initiated by the Federal Government might have been resolved with slots allocated to lawmakers.
Besides Senators and House of Representatives members, governors and ministers will also make nominations.
The process of recruitment which the National Assembly tried to halt, after a clash between Minister of State Labour and Employment and the joint committee of the National Assembly on Labour and Employment, is going on in all the states.
Political office holders have been allocated 15 per cent of the slots in the programme designed to employ 1,000 artisan youths from each of the 774 local government councils in the country.
Beneficiaries are to work for three months between October and December. Each will earn N20,000 monthly, doing public works as may be determined.
N52 billion has been approved for the project in the 2020 budget.
Giving a breakdown of the slots sharing, the Chairman of the Extended Special Public Work Selection Committee in Rivers State, Dr. Innocent Barikor, told The Nation reporter at the weekend that: “The programme has a guideline.
“The directive given to us is that every state governor has 40 slots of the job in each LGA; serving Senators have 30 each, members of House of Representative have 25 slots; a minister has 30 slots in every LGA in his state of origin, so I have nothing to do about it.”
The committee chairman added: “This job is for those that do not know about ICT. They are jobs for bricklayers, market women, hairdressers, among others.”
Kaduna State Chairman of the Selection Committee, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, said: “Thirteen per cent of the total number allocated to Kaduna is being shared among the elected and appointed political office holders from the state, while the eighty-seven per cent will be given to the people through a random selection committee.”
Fifty slots were allocated to the member representing Gwer East and Gwer West Constituency of Benue State in the House of Representatives.
NDE State Coordinator, Musa Sadauki, who is also the selection committee Secretary, wrote: “We are pleased to formally notify you that the Hon. Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr. Festus Keyamo has approved the allotment to you of the 25 slots in each of the two LGAs in your Federal Constituency…”
Plateau State selection committee said it will soon roll out the recruitment modalities.
State coordinator, Rufus Bature, said the committee has held several meetings, and that application forms may be distributed as from next week.
Enugu State Chairman of the Committee, Chief Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu, said the recruitment was running smoothly.
Keyamo who confirmed the slot reservations, said: “Yes, the figures are true. Fifteen per cent has been reserved for political officeholders. They also have constituents they represent.
“The slots for Senators and House of Representatives members are for the local governments within the constituents/catchment areas that they represent, not the whole state.
“It is a very, very small number if you consider that the slots are not up to 150 out of 1,000 per local government. So, you still have 850 per local government. You still have a large number reserved for Nigerians.”
The Katsina State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) protested the quota allotted to the association by the committee.
The chairman, Reverend Nelson Onyekachukwu, said: “Asking CAN to contribute only 20 people from each of the 34 local government areas in the state is grossly unfair to the association.”
The implementation committee chairman, Alhaji Musa Magaji, said the recruitment would be done equitably irrespective of religious or political affiliation, adding that CAN is just one of the groups to be accommodated.
The Anambra State’s Selection Committee head, Sir Uzoma Igbonwa, said the project would soon take off.
He said the traditional rulers sub-committee was yet to be inaugurated, but that those of market women, road workers, youths, CAN and Muslim group have all been inaugurated.
Lawmakers in Imo State have allegedly hijacked the forms for some local government areas.
An artisan, Elder Jacob Uwaleke from Owerri West Local Government Area, said: “We were told that lawmakers collected the forms on behalf of their constituencies but honestly I am yet to see it.”
The Nation
