The federal government says it will spend N5.9 billion training youths in Kano on how to repair smartphones, among other skills, as part of a comprehensive campaign to provide job opportunities and eradicate poverty.

Sadiya Umar-Faruk, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, stated this during the N-Skill Training trainees’ graduation on smartphone repairs on Wednesday in Kano.

Ms Umar-Farouq said the government would provide the graduates with tools to set up their businesses.

He listed items as soldering irons, digital multimeters, precision screwdrivers, repair toolkits and magnifying lamps.

Ms Farouq said the programme demonstrated President Muhammadu Buhari’s efforts at addressing youth unemployment.

She explained that the programme demonstrated the commitment to collectively address youth unemployment in line with Mr Buhari’s efforts to reduce poverty in Nigeria.

Represented by Special Assistant to the President on Social Investment, Nasir Mahmoud, she explained that the programme accommodated many skills-based enterprises.

She noted that the graduate and non-graduate components of the N-Power programme had been expanded to provide job opportunities for 16,629 unemployed youths in Kano under the Batch C.

The minister added that this followed the successfully exiting of 18,042 youths under Batches A and B.

“The federal government is investing over N5.9 billion for the training, tooling and/or payment of monthly stipends on the Batch C beneficiaries. This is a tremendous direct injection of resources at the grassroots and in the hands of youths,” she disclosed.

She also mentioned that smartphone repairs were used to pilot the programme under the N-Power non-graduate component targeted at “lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.”

(NAN)