The Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo on Sunday disclosed that the Special Public Works Programme which would engage 774,000 unemployed Nigerians will kick off nationwide on Tuesday.
Mr Keyamo, who announced this on his verified Twitter handle, explained that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the commencement of the initiative.
He tweeted, “President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the take-off of the Special Public Works Programme (engaging 774,000 unemployed itinerant Nigerians) to begin nationwide on Tuesday, January 5th, 2021. All NDE state structures are already in top gear for the take-off ceremonies.”
Initially planned to kick-off on October 1, 2020, the programme was however deferred due to the disagreement between the minister and the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment, Nasir Ladan over the scope and structure of the programme.
Nadan was relieved of his position last month.
The programme was designed to employ 1,000 Nigerians from each of the 774 local government areas in the country. Each of the 774,000 workers will earn N20,000 monthly for three months duration of the job, amounting to about N46.44 billion.
The ministers are expected to launch the scheme in their respective states in collaboration with the governors.
