The Federal government has unveiled the details of its plan to employ 1,000 people in each of the 774 local government areas in the country. 

The initiative will begin on 1 October and each beneficiary will receive a monthly payment of N20,000 for public works.

This disclosure was made by the Minister of State for Labor and Employment, Festus Keyamo.

Mr. Keyamo gave further specifics of the system, stating that each state would have a committee to select those to be hired and the jobs that they will do. 

He said that political leaders in all areas will be allowed to select not more than 10% of the beneficiaries in their areas. 

He stated; "It is my singular honor and pleasure to welcome members of the Press to this briefing.

"Sometime in October 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, approved the Rural Areas Pilot Special Public Works Programme.

"The program had its headquarters in the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) for implementation.

"The Special Public Works in the Rural Areas is an employment-intensive technique acquired and adapted by the National Employment Directorate (NDE) from one of the capacity-building collaborations with the International Labor Organization ( ILO) between the late 1980's and the mid-1990s.

"The project was labeled ILO / NDE Labor Base / Light Equipment Methods of Construction, Rehabilitation, and Rehabilitation.

"The ILO itself derived this idea from a number of historical templates of the Special Public Works Programme.

"According to the ILO Department of Development and Technical Labor, these types of programs have been used by industrialized nations during the Great Depression to respond immediately to the sluggish poverty at the lowest level of society that is usually the source of such economic upheavals.

"It was also successfully used during colonial Africa to respond rapidly to situations such as drought and famine by mobilizing the unskilled population to participate in other labor-intensive infrastructure projects as a way of immediately alleviating their situation. Later, the concept was adopted and developed by most Asian countries, such as India, China, and Bangladesh, to get their countries out of the country.

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"As a result of the Federal Government's need and willingness to build large employment at the lowest level of the economy and to sustain vital public and social services at the rural base of the economy, Mr. President has decided that we should also implement and incorporate this form of system into the Nigerian economy.

"The pilot program previously approved by Mr. President was designed to reduce the lack of employment opportunities in rural areas by a short-term commitment of 1,000 (1,000) unemployed people per local government area for a period of three ( 3 ) months. It is a dry season/off-season temporary work program and was originally designed for the rehabilitation/maintenance of public and social infographics.

"The pilot scheme was approved for implementation in five local government areas in eight states, namely: Adamawa, Borno, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Jigawa, Katsina and Kwara. 

Beneficiaries shall be engaged in: 

• Drainage digging and clearance 

• Irrigation canals clearance 

• Rural feeder road maintenance 

• Maintenance of the Great Green Wall nurseries and orchards in Borno, Jigawa and Katsina States