There was an update I did, cant even remember the subject matter now and from there, as all things do, the discussion segued into jobs and unemployment. I mentioned thet for what it was worth, the Sure-Ps Graduate Internship Scheme was a praiseworthy initiative of this administration and should be encouraged. The SureP GIS simply put, is a scheme that is designeď to reduce unemployment by matching job seeking Nigerian graduates with requisite skill sets to direct employers of labour. It is an open secret that I am most fed up with the tear it down opposition antics in Nigeria. Not constructive criticism, but destructive and total annihilation by way of word of mouth tactics. I feel that initiatives which show promise should be watched, and constructive criticisms proferred on how to make it better, make them work. That day, I was told how hundreds of thousands of Nigerian youth were being manipulated for the enrichment of Sure P officials. They would be assigned but not receive their pay, the system was not working, blablabla. Way it was told, it was a rubbish means for siphoning our comkon wealth and both NOI and GEJ should immediately place their heads on the chopping blocks for ever thinking up that scheme. I had just returned from a trip to the Sure-P office that day and struggled to reconcile what I saw with the evidence being given on Social Media. I had been planning another trip, when someone randomly mentioned he needed some help in that area, so off I went in the company of a facebook friend. Just bullet points below and just to point out before I jump in, that the two main people who gave us info are not from the South South or South East, they were from the Northern part of the country. 1. There is absolutely no human intervention in the process of recruiting interns for firms in the Sure P GIS scheme. Applicants apply online, firms apply online and the computer picks a match based on a first to register bases. If you need a Chemical Engineering graduate and ask your brother to submit his CV in order to employ him, that might backfore as the computer would simply assign to you, the most senior (by way of date of online registration) Chemical engineer in the system. 2. The scheme which is still in its pilot phase has a target of 50,000 placements by end of year 2015. As at date, they had achieved about 50% of that target. When my colleague queried that the targeted placements was too modest, he was reminded that this was just a pilot phase and the success of it would determine if it would be extended and the target for the next phase of the scheme. 3. Monthly stipend had been increased from N25,000 to N30,000 and again here as in the placements, there was little or no human intervention. They were advised to open a dedicated account for the Sure P scheme with the UBA and the system makes direct payments into that account on due date. Not to the employing firms, not via the SureP staff, not cash to intern, but via payroll administration, direct into the interns accounts. 4. The firms that had hired the interns would however need to fill out a timesheet confirming that the intern was with them for the expected dùration and had filled the required hours. No submitted timesheets from the firms, no payments. Again, all this is done online, no human intervention. 5. As at date, placements had been done to over 2,000 firms and there were about 4 to 5,000 firms still awaiting verification. This verification is contracted to SMEDAN to ensure that these firms exist and are involved in the line of business they claim to be in. Placements are not necessarily based on the numbers requested for, but on availability and best match and the best option is to register as a firm or as a graduate job seeker. 6. NGOs, Private Businesses, Corporate Organisations... everyone who is involved in legitimate business is welcomed to apply for placement of interns. Every graduate who has completed their NYSC is welcomed to apply for employment opportunities. 7. To create awareness in states where they plan to establish their presence, they hold job fairs. Officers are currently in Zamfara state organising a job fair where they allow interface between employers and potential employees, giving them the opportunity to hire interns on the spot. We chipped in that there was a general impression that the SureP progranme was dead on arrival and the person we spoke with, a senior official threw his head back and laughed. He asked us to ignore propaganda, commended the efforts we had made to come and speak with them ourselves instead of relying on social media gossip and assured us that SureP was working, they had no problems so far with the placements they had made, interns were getting paid as at when due and in their humble opinions, this was a big plus for the administration. Here is my candid advice to all job seeking graduates. Bearing in mind that this scheme can absorb another 25000 job seekers by year end 2015, please go online and register on wyesurep.gov.ng. Remember that even when banks and oil companies hire, many are called but few are chosen. There are also other schemes being operated by the government to either set you on the part of entrepreneurship or do their bit towards getting you a job. The Agric sector for one is there and rolling out schemes too that are designed to boost the individual and the economy, key in! Oh, and there is no fee for applying, completely free and whether you get retained by the firm after the one year of internship is entirely up to you and how you distinguish yourself in managing and discharging your job functions. That one no go be Goodluck fault again abi? So, there you have it. Choose ye this day whom you want to believe as for me, all I have to add at this juncture is: Goodluck to Nigeria.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 07:35:38 +0000
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