By Chimezie Godfrey
The Federal government has launched the N-Power Batch ‘C’ into the National Social Investment Management System (NASIM) with the target of empowering one million young Nigerians.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja.
Recall that that the N-Power is a cluster under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) launched in 2016 as a intervention to enhance Government efforts on engaging Youths forskill and employability.
Also recall that the Batches’A’ and ‘B’ have already been implemented.
The Minister noted that the launch of the of the Batch C’ on the National Social Investment Management Systems (NASIMS) is a continuation of the ongoing strategy by the Buhari-led government to further position Nigerian youths for greater social responsibilities and inclusion.
She said despite an initial decline in the number of poor and vulnerable citizensin urgent need of assistance at the inception of this administrationbetween 2016 and 2018, that in recent times, there has been a significant upsurge in the number of Nigerians requiring humanitarian assistance, evident across all regions of the Country.
According to her, the upsurge has-been aggravated by the menace of increased attacks occasioned by insurgency, communal crisis and ethnic conflict, as well as the overall effects of climatechange such as flooding, erosion, and desertification, among others.
Farouq noted that the N-Power Batch ‘A’ and ‘B’ programmes provided anonportunity for 109,823 beneficiaries to utilize the skills they acquired and savings to become business owners.
She said,”In view of this life-opportunity for changing experiences, President Muhammadu Buhari graciouslyapproved the expansion of the N-Power programme to enableonboarding of 1 milion young Nigerians.
“This is a remarkableachievement and clear demonstration of Mr. President’s commitmentto addressing poverty and unemployment among young Nigeriangraduates and non-graduates.
“Today, we have reached anothermilestone in the process of recruiting and onboarding of the Batch CN-Power beneficiaries beginning with 500,000 beneficiaries.
“The N-Power Batch C as launched today is structured to onboard 1million new beneficiaries, beginning with an initial 500,000beneficiaries in the first stream, and a subsequent 500,000 in a secondstream, all aligned to the National policy drive of lifting 100 Millionpeople out of abject poverty in 10 years.
“Furthermore, the N-Power Batch C will: Strategically drive the acquisition of a bouquet of usable skills foreach beneficiary with the goal to ensure they are economicallymore active and possess the right vocational skill set to attractgainful employment on graduation.
“Increase the propensities of local production given the ability todomesticate and put into productive use, the skills acquired inthe course of the program.
“Increase national employment indicesand ensure the productiveengagement of millions of youths with the ultimate desireimprove cohesion and national security.
“Reflate and stimulate the economy since the beneficiaries will bepaid a stipend of 30,000 per month, thus improving theirdisposable income levels as well as positioning them as bettereconomic agents.”
Farouq added that part of the reasons for the inauguration of the N-Power Batch’C’ is to ensure transparency, institutional memory and dynamic impact assessment of the N-Power cluster.
According to her, it will now be administered through the National Social Investment & Information ManagementSystem (NASIMS) designed to optimise and compliment the structuralreforms of Social Investment Programs (SIP) and other activities of theMinistry with the systemic use of ICT tools for coordination,administration, monitoring, and stakeholder management across theentire process and value chain of all social investment programmesunder the purview of the Ministry.
“As seen today, the N-Power is a highly impactful social investmentprogramme.
“It has directly benefited over 1 million youth already andis now positioned to be more effective through the deployment of theNational Social Investment & Information Management System(NASIMS).
“By commencing the administration of the N-Power Batch C throughthe National Social Investment & Information Management System(NASIMS), beneficiaries will be able to:
“Receive their stipends in a timely and efficient manner.
“Have access to a wide range of industry specific contents foroptimised learning experience leveraging the enterprise learningmanagement module of the NASIMs.
“Actively interact and engage with industry experts for hands-onexperiences and learnings.
“Communicate their concerns and promptly recelve feedback formthe program implementation teams and other stakeholders fromthere comfort zones regardless of their location.
“Experience a redefined and seamless beneficiary verificationprocess which addresses the challenges earlier experienced withperiodic beneficiary verification.
“Experience an efficient transition and exist management plan which
allows beneficiary to be migrated automatically to the “NEXITProgram” for onward possible placement and employmentopportunities with Federal Government Agencies.
“As we launch the N-Power Batch C today, all N-Power Batch Capplicants are required to log into the N-Power Self Service portal onwww.nasims.gov.ng and update their records, following which theymay proceed to take the mandatory online test in order to progress tothe next level of selection,” she explained.
Speaking, the ICT Consultant on NASIMS, Mr David Ibhawoh, said the ministry has invested so much on the portal that it would not experience crash or challenges.
Ibhawoh said the NASIMS portal is a channel that the ministry would use to disseminate information to the Batch ‘C’ applicants.
According to him, those that applied for the N-Power Batch ‘C’ Programme before the closing date with their emails are the only ones that can have access to the portal.
“They can use the email address they applied for the programme to gain access to the portal; all their information are there in the portal. If you did not apply, you can’t access the portal. It will not recognise you.
“The portal have a computer base test which an applicant is expected to take and then and see his or her scores without any delay.
“There are emails and chat services in the portal to interact with the Ministry. It is the first step of information sharing,” Ibhawoh said.
