By Eunice Orike
In its continued efforts to reduce unemployment and promote economic growth, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has launched the second phase of the Renewed Hope Employment Initiative (RHEI), targeting 27,000 beneficiaries nationwide.
Nigerian Pilot recalls that last November, the NDE had launched the first phase of the renewed hope employment initiative program across the country.
The Director-General of the NDE, Silas Agara while declaring the registration portal open on Monday in a press briefing said that the program is designed to engage youths in over 30 different skill sets nationwide.
He said the registration portal, which will be open for two weeks from Monday, July 28th to Monday, August 11th, 2025, requires applicants to register with their National identification number NIN, and be residents of the state where they are applying from.
“And the purpose of this program today is to state clearly in this briefing and to formally declare open the NDE registration portal for the commencement of the second phase of the renewed hope employment Initiative that will run from today. That the portal will be open from today being Monday
“The age bracket for the program has been increased to 18-45 years, and the program will be implemented in all 37 states of the federation, including the FCT, and six zonal offices spread across the six geopolitical zones of the country”, Agara said.
Agara said the NDE has provided hardware and software facilities, as well as internet facilities, to all state offices nationwide to ensure real-time connectivity with the headquarters.
“I want to assure you this afternoon that this group of directors you are sitting with have tirelessly worked around the clock to ensure that we come up with something very good. This time around, our program is going to be 100% digital.
“And as we speak today, we have made provision of hardware and software facilities to all our state offices nationwide.
“We have equally provided internet facilities to all the state offices nationwide, so that they can be linked up with the headquarters real time. That we believe that will help us to achieve 100% digital success in all our state offices”, Agara said.
The Director general assured that the program will be transparent and free from manipulation, with all applications being processed digitally through the NDE’s network.
He said applicants can register online through the NDE’s portal, and the registration process will be monitored and supported by the NDE’s ICT team and state offices nationwide.
The Director-General also announced that the program will be implemented in phases, with the first phase commencing immediately after the registration period.
The DG also said that the NDE has also established job centers and ICT desk offices in all states of the federation to provide support guidance to applicants and address any challenges that may arise during the registration process.
The DG used the opportunity to call on all eligible youths to take advantage of this opportunity and register for the program and also warned the public to be cautious of scammers who may try to deceive them by asking for financial gratification or other requirements not authorised by the NDE.
However, the Director-General pleaded with the media to help reach out to the entire public and educate them on the program and how to register.
On her part, director inspectorate of NDE, Steve-Ogundipe Olayinka said that there are more than 800 skills centres that has been authenticated across the states, with some states having 60 and others more than 60.
