Minister of National Planning, Abubakar Sulaiman, has stated in Asaba, Delta state that, activities of militants and other criminality in the Niger Delta region will be reduced to the barest minimum through effective implementation of the Seefor Project.
He said “Seefor project does not only creates jobs, but by extension assist in addressing militancy, criminality, ins urgency and other social vices through effective engagement of un employed youths”
SEEFOR stands for; State Employment and Expenditure for Results and it is a World Bank intervention project in the Niger Delta region as part of its contribution to the federal government’s amnesty programme towards reducing poverty and unemployment
Sulaiman further disclosed that, “Seefor project had already created over 8695 jobs in 2 years in the entire four Seefor participating states, in which Delta state alone accounted for 5444 jobs”
The four Niger Delta states participating in this project are; Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers, and they were selected based on the high rate of unemployment and poverty recorded due to the activities of oil companies in the area.
The Minister was in Asaba for a Stakeholders Validation Workshop on the Informal Sector of the Seefor Project participating States and also to inspect some projects being financed by the Seefor in the State.
According to him, the workshop was aimed at validating the report of the study, including the associated findings, and also to harvest ideas from stakeholders within the Niger Delta region to further enrich the quality of the report
In a well come address, the Acting Secretary to the National Planning Commission, Bassey Akpanyung, represented by the Director General NISER, Professor Olufemi Taiwo, explained that, the conduct of the informal sector study in the SEEFOR beneficiary States has a great potential for the realisation of inclusive growth and employment generation.
He also pointed out that the Informal Sector fits perfectly into the Manufacturing, Agriculture, Solid Minerals and Services Agenda (MASS Agenda), which is consistent with the cardinal principles of the Transformation Agenda, aims at bringing about rapid industrial transformation of the economy
Some of the Seefor projects inspected by the Minister in Delta state include; women & youths skills acquisition center, road construction & maintenance and environment sanitation
Salisu B. Haiba
Head of Information
