by Akintomiwa Agbaje

The Graduate Internship Scheme of Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) has signed on over 120,000 graduates in the programme with nearly 3,000 firms ready to absorb them.

Mr Peter Papka, The Project Director of the Graduate Internship Scheme, said at a sensitisation workshop in Lagos yesterday, that the scheme is aimed at resolving the employability of at least 50,000 unemployed graduates in the 36 states and the FCT, by improving their skills through internship programmes.

The Citizen reports:

Papka who was represented by the Head of Operations, Mr Akubo Adegbe, pointed out that “there is need to sensitise the public about the benefits of GIS so that unemployed graduates will be gainfully engaged.

“Apart from a few large companies and organisations that have taken over 100 graduates for internship, most of our partner firms are SMEs. There is need to sensitise more companies on the advantages of this scheme,” he said.

He further pointed out that “GIS has conducted an interactive session with captains of industry and chief executives of major local and international companies.”

“Sensitisation efforts have been made in 27 states across the country so far with over 5,000 firms reached.”

He further pointed out that in order to curb sharp practices, “GIS is working hand-in-hand with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to ascertain real graduates.”

Adesgbe also pointed out that, “according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the current unemployment rate in Nigeria is put at about 23%. This figure varies between geo-political zones, states and age brackets with as high as 41.6 per cent reported for youths in the age bracket 18-24 years.

“We are using this medium to call on graduates to register with this scheme in order to reduce unemployment”, he pleaded.