The Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau have flagged off the 2020/2021 Graduate Internship Facility (GIF) of the Graduates’ Employment Enhancement Programme (GEEP) – a programme designed for fresh graduates to gain the much-desired experience to improve their employability by private sector establishments.
Eric Eboh, the chief job and wealth creation officer of the state, said the programme is part of the government’s efforts to tackle unemployment in the state.
Speaking during the flag-off ceremony of GIF at the bureau in Asaba, Eboh, a professor, said that the current cycle of GIF would commence with three graduate nominees who have been interviewed and selected by Premium Steel and Mines Limited, Aladja.
He said that GIF would last for six months during which the graduate interns would be paid a stipend of N50,000 monthly in addition to other benefits given by the host company.
Host private sector establishments are expected to absorb the graduate interns into substantive employment after the internship period,” he stated.
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He advised the beneficiaries to be diligent in the discharge of their duties and to shun all negative behaviour that could bring the image of the state government to disrepute.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Esther Konwea who studied Psychology from Delta State University said she graduated from the university in 2018 and that she was grateful to God and Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for allowing her to be part of the programme.
She expressed optimism that the programme if continued would enable more youths and graduates to become beneficiaries, thereby reducing youth unemployment.
She pledged to be a good ambassador of GEEP and to serve her host company diligently during the six months internship to be retained by the company at the end.
It would be recalled that Eboh had disclosed to newsmen that the GEEP had a 62 percent success rate since over five years it was inaugurated, as the beneficiaries were often retained by the host companies at the end of their internship.
