A total of 126,122 graduates have registered online for the Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) project, under the Community Service, Women and Youth Employment, aspect of the Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE –P), domiciled in the Ministry of Labour and Productivity.
Mr Audu Maikori, the SURE-P Convener, Community Service, Women and Youth Employment said the scheme was targeted at creating opportunity for 25,000 graduates.
He said the project needed 25,000 graduates who would be attached to 7,000 firms across the country, adding that the beneficiaries would be mentored by the firms to enhance their employment opportunities.
He said: “So far the following have been achieved: 126,122 graduates have been registered on the scheme online till date and 4,450 firms have been registered to assist in the programme.
`”Six hundred and seventy graduates have been matched with some of the firms and 5,589 are still to be hired.’’
Maikori said that SURE-P had been able to increase the beneficiaries’ stipend from N18, 000 to N25, 000 since July 2013.
He added that some state governments had indicated interest in paying an additional N10, 000 each to the beneficiaries to support the efforts of SURE-P for the scheme.
“I think that is a great thing. What we are trying to do is to work more. We are also reaching out to a lot in the corporate community, such as business organs and SMEs who I think will be the biggest beneficiaries.
“These small companies need support, especially when the government is not giving them loans. At least, the manpower is free,” he said.
According to him, SURE-P would continue in 2014 to partner with state governments and the business community which services the various state governments.
He said: “Having done that of Lagos State in December, we want to focus our attention on Kano State or Kaduna State and reach out to the people in the first quarter of 2014. We will go to the South-South, to a place such as PortHarcourt, especially where there are a lot of companies and not just in any state, but where the region has the most number of companies.’’
