FG, World Bank, EU announce plan to create 25,000 jobs in Niger Delta

The Federal Government, World Bank and the European Union(EU) have announced plans to create up to 25,000 jobs in four Niger Delta States through a project that is intended to enhance public  financial management and generate employment.

The Project called States Employment and Expenditure For Results (SEEFOR) will be implemented in four states in the Niger Delta region, namely; Bayelsa, Edo, Delta and Rivers where, basically issues of governance and unemployment will be tackled, according to the three institutions.

The Project which will be implemented for 5 years will be financed by a World Bank credit of USD200 million and additional financial support of about Euro 80 million from Europeon Union (EU).

BusinessDay was told that each of the four participating states is also expected to provide about $150 million counterpart funding while the Planning ministry coordinates the project implementation.

 SEEFOR Project was conceived by the National Planning Commission, in collaboration with the World Bank and the European Union (EU), as part of the international Donor Agencies’ contribution to the Amnesty Programme of the Federal Government

Bashir Yuguda, Supervising Minister, National Planning Commission  who formally launched the project in Abuja said that the project’s overall objective is to ensure improvement in standard of living of citizens and also enhance financial management process in the Niger Delta region.

 It is also expected to pave way for a significant reduction in unemployment rates in the SEEFOR participating States and sustained improvement in financial prudence.

 The project has three main components, namely, Youth Employment and Access to Socio-economic Services; Public Financial Management (PFM) Reforms; and Project Coordination and Implementation Support at the Federal and sub-national levels.

Yuguda, noted, however, that the Project became effective in July 2013 and several activities and programmes have been implemented in the last nine months both at the National and sub national levels in addressing the twin issues of governance and employment generation in the respective States.

 World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly told BusinessDay that SEEFOR is a good example of how the development partners want to intervene in Nigeria through the Country Assistance Framework to ensure complementarity in their activities rather than the usual duplication of efforts.

  Highlighting some aspects of the proposed support and expected outcomes, she said the project, through technical assistance and capacity building will support the state ministries (including education, agriculture and finance), house of Assemblies, departments and Agencies.

 The project will also provide youths with vocational training and employment in public works and waste management as well as build capacity for the federal ministries of Planning and Niger Delta Affairs to facilitate federal government support for state- led reform.

 Marie-Nelly, however, stressed that the project can only succeed with good ownership at the state and federal levels as well as solid institutional coordination at federal and state levels.

 She added that involving stakeholders would be key for the project implementation and also clearly defining and monitoring progress.

Onyinye Nwachukwu