One hundred and eight beneficiaries of N10.8million loan of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Kwara State on Wednesday underwent a one-day orientation programme in Ilorin, the state capital.

The orientation progemme was organised to tutor the beneficiaries on effective utilisation of the fund they received from NDE.

Beneficiaries received N100,000 each late last year from the Directorate to embark on agribusiness of their choice.

The loan, which is repayable for a period of three years, was disbursed through Rural Employment Promotion Department loan programme under the schemes such as Sustainable Agricultural Development and Empowerment Scheme (SADES), Agricultural Enhancement Scheme (AES), Graduate Agricultural Empowerment Scheme (GAES) and Community Based Agricultural Empowerment Scheme (CBAES).

The event also featured another one-day orientation programme for Community Based Training Scheme (CBTS) of the Vocational Skills Department of the directorate with 20 beneficiaries already onboarded.

The director general of NDE, Mallam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, said the interventionist schemes of the directorate were to minimise the unemployment situation in the country.

Speaking through the Kwara State NDE Coordinator, Timothy Aba, Fikpo stated that findings had revealed that beneficiaries of the loan were performing satisfactorily in their respective agric-business.

He noted that the directorate was delighted that the participants had done themselves proud with the utilization of the fund, adding that they had been trained on how to sustain their businesses.

Fikpo, however, urged the beneficiaries to be meticulous in the management of the funding disbursed to them to grow and sustain the business, pointing out that they could become major employers of labour in no distant time.