SURE-P implementation begins nationwide soon —Sambo

Posted by admin Goodluck Jonathan (2010-present), Presidency Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

VICE-President Namadi Sambo, on Tuesday, declared the readiness of the Federal Government to begin the implementation of the Subsidy Re-investment and Employment Programme (SURE-P) on a nationwide scale following its successful test-run in some selected states.

Inaugurating the State Implementation Committees (SIC) in the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, he said government was determined to match its words with action in terms of its promise for employment generation and wealth creation.

He said the inauguration of SICs was yet another milestone in government’s resolve to address the challenges posed by unemployment and the need for wealth creation to meet the yearnings and aspirations of millions of women and youths across the country.

The vice-president noted that valuable lessons were learnt from the operation of a pilot scheme of the SURE-P which necessitated the establishment of structures to facilitate implementation at all levels.

According to him, “in consideration of the peculiar features in the design of the project, pilot schemes were undertaken in some states and the lessons learnt therefrom have helped sharpen the delivery mechanism. Following these lessons, we are now in a position to start full implementation across the country.

“A major lesson emerging from the pilot scheme is the need to establish state-level structures to facilitate delivery while also ensuring that the guidelines are followed. Consequently, having an institutional platform has become imperative, hence the constitution of these committees.”

He observed that Nigeria, for decades, had been faced with high unemployment rates among the youth, noting that since independence, several strategies and institutional mechanisms had been put in place to address unemployment and the attendant poverty among our youth.

But these efforts to solve the problem of unemployment and wealth creation, he said, had however, not yielded the desired results.

-Tribunewp_posts