The Acting Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Edmund Onwuliri, has appealed to the Delta State Government to co-fund the resettlement of informal sector trainees under the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Employment Initiative (RHEI). Speaking during a working visit to Asaba, Onwuliri met with the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Kingsley Eze Emu—who represented Governor Sheriff Oborevwori—to advocate for joint interventions in enterprise creation. While the NDE successfully trained 891 individuals in its first phase and 1,067 in its second phase across various vocational, agricultural, and public works sectors, funding shortfalls meant that out of 380 approved for resettlement in the second phase, only 33 received business starter packs.
To formalize long-term synergy, the NDE chief proposed establishing a joint task team between the agency and the state government to design data-driven youth empowerment strategies. Onwuliri also announced that the upcoming third phase of the RHEI, scheduled for mid-July 2026, will feature an upgraded digital registration portal integrating National Identification Numbers (NIN) and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to optimize transparency. Additionally, a new digital marketing application developed in partnership with tech firm Timeterest will allow the NDE to monitor real-time business growth while letting beneficiaries showcase their products online. In response, Dr. Emu pledged the state’s backing to cover the remaining unequipped trainees, requesting a comprehensive baseline database from the NDE to execute the state-level intervention.
