The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and Youth Employment, Afolabi Imoukhuede, has at 7pm Wednesday granted a first-of-the-year Facebook Live chat. This was aimed at addressing N-power pressing issues and to answer volunteers numerous questions.
Below are details of his speech during the Chat:
1. The graduate volunteers should expect their February stipends this week. Non graduate category should expect their January Stipend this week and February, next week.
2. Permanent engagement of N-power volunteers by the Federal Government is impossible. Federal Government cannot employ a large number of 500,000 volunteers as overall Federal Civil Service Employees are not up to 100,000. He emphasised that the Minister is still in talks with state Governors and other stakeholders to partner in the engagement of volunteers. He advised the volunteers to continue to work and earn while their exit packages are being worked on. He urged the volunteers to continue to apply for openings while they put N-power as part of their experience as it will offer them more consideration. He also asked the volunteers to get a Linkdn account for more versatile engagement.
3. He commended Lagos State N-power volunteers for targeting their agitation to an appropriate Authority other than the Federal Government. He noted that channelling an agitation to the Federal Government is inappropriate since the years of voluntary services are expended on the States. The volunteers should agitate to the States they are serving. He cited an example with a volunteer who asked why a volunteer serving in a school without teachers should be disengaged. In his response, he said, a valid agitation should be to the State government in charge of such school.
4. Batch B device is being worked on and very soon, they will start the processes of obtaining their devices. He noted that the device is essential for the training and e-learning of every volunteer. So, the Federal Government will not deny the Batch B such entitlement. The dwindling economy has hampered the procurement all these while.
5. He apologised for the delays experienced in the program so far and asked every volunteer to remain resolute in the discharge of his/her duty to be able to get paid.
6. He also commended volunteers that have formed various Cooperative Societies in different states. He emphasised that the Bank of Industry has set aside about N90billion for SME start ups that the volunteers can as well access.
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