SEEFOR Project will create 25000 jobs in Niger Delta – Yuguda

ABUJA (National Planning Commission Report) – The Supervising Minister of the National Planning Commission, Bashir Yuguda has said that the Nigerian Government in collaboration with the World Bank and the European Union (EU) will create 25,000 jobs in four Niger Delta States in the next five years through the SEEFOR Project.

He explained that four States in the Niger Delta region – Bayelsa, Edo, Delta and Rivers have been selected under the SEEFOR Project aimed at tackling the issues of governance and unemployment. Adding, SEEFOR stands for States Employment and Expenditure For Results (SEEFOR) Project.

“It is a project conceived by the National Planning Commission in collaboration with the World Bank and the European Union (EU) as part of the International Donor Agencies’ contribution to the Amnesty Programme of the Federal Government,” he disclosed.

Bashir Yuguda, while formally launching the project, inferred that the objectives of the project are to ensure improvement in the standard of living of citizens and to also enhance financial management processes in the Niger Delta region. He opined that the project is expected to pave way for a significant reduction in unemployment rates in the SEEFOR participating States as well as sustained improvement in financial prudence.

He also said that the project has three main components – Youth Employment and Access to Socioeconomic Services, Public Financial Management Reforms (PFM)  and Project Coordination and Implementation Support at the federal and sub-national levels. He pointed out that the three components of SEEFOR forms the tripod upon which the present government’s Transformation Agenda rests.

“The project became effective in July 2013 and several activities and programmes have been implemented in the last nine months both at the national and sub national levels in addressing the twin issues of governance and employment generation in the respective States. The project was designed to be executed for a period of five years and will be financed by a credit facility of USD200 million by the World Bank and additional financial support of about Euro 80 million from the European Union (EU),” he intensified.

The Minister described the support as laudable and in consonance with the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. He also expressed hope that the additional financing would translate to more jobs for the youths, more financial prudence, greater courses in Technical and Vocational Colleges as well as more education to for the citizenry.

‘The SEEFOR Project, he stated is intended to address the issues of employment and public financial management and the launch was to create awareness and visibility for the project at the national and sub national levels.  He added that the formal launch was to mark the end of the Project Preparatory Advance (PPA) phase and the formal beginning of the process leading to the implementation of the SEEFOR project.