The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has said that it has concluded plans to float a new employment scheme for artisans in early January 2022.

The new scheme, known as “Artisans in Collaborative Construction Employment Scheme (ACCES)”, is designed to create a pool of skilled, competent and employable persons in the construction sector. It is to be anchored by the Special Public Works Department of the Directorate with an effective take-off date of January 10, 2022, in thirteen states of the federation.

NDE Deputy Director Information and Public Relations, Mr Edmund Onwuliri, disclosed this on Friday in a statement in Abuja.

He said the program was principally designed as a collaborative initiative between the NDE and other relevant stakeholders and organisations in the construction sector such as domestic and multinational construction outfits and professional bodies in the construction space in order to ensure that participants imbibe the standards of the various professions in the construction industry. The scheme also aims at imparting industry-led competency skills as well as providing appropriate certification to artisans under relevant professional bodies.

According to Onwuliri, the scheme is expected to provide a more reliable and dependable pool of skilled workforce for the construction industry in Nigeria, establish an avenue for improving and upgrading the skills of artisans.

‘Furthermore, ACCES is expected to provide a platform to organize artisans for regular and sustainable work apart from inculcating in them, the spirit of professionalism and engendering more trust by the paying public. Graduates of the various schemes of the NDE that are relevant to the construction industry such as Environmental Beautification Scheme (EBTS), Basic Open Apprenticeship Scheme (B-NOAS), Advanced Open Apprenticeship Scheme (A-NOAS) as well as other artisans across the benefiting states will constitute the initial intake into the scheme,’ he said.

He also disclosed that the Directorate was working out plans to begin providing certificates for artisan workers.

‘The NDE has also worked out modalities which will ensure that over time, regulatory bodies such as the National Business and Technical Education Board (NABTEB), Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyor’s and Valuers (NIESV), Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA) and others will provide the necessary guidance towards the certification of the artisans. Similarly, artisans recruited for the scheme will undergo documentation and a period of orientation before being deployed to construction firms for hands-on training and experience. The following states will benefit from the scheme as it debuts in January 2022: Imo, Lagos, Kano, Borno, Oyo, Nasarawa, and Adamawa. Others include Sokoto, Enugu, Yobe, Niger, Taraba and Delta State,’ the statement read. (Saturday Sun)

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