The Federal Government has concluded arrangements to engage additional 300,000 beneficiaries in the second batch of its N-Power Volunteers Corp from August 1.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a press statement on Thursday.

Akande explained that with 200,000 existing beneficiaries, 500,000 unemployed Nigerian graduates would by August be beneficiaries of the scheme, which is a crucial part of the administration’s National Social Investment Programmes.

He said the N-Power Volunteer Corps scheme was designed to benefit all Nigerians irrespective of their backgrounds and was currently in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Akande stated that in conjunction with all state N-Power partners, the new beneficiaries would be promptly deployed in their primary places of assignment on or before the said date.

He said, “The final selection lists broken down in states/local government areas for each of the three N-Power components would be circulated to all focal persons in the states and the FCT by Friday, July 20, 2018.

“All successfully deployed N-Power beneficiaries in the second batch will be engaged for a period of two years starting from August 1, 2018 to July 31, 2020.

“In order to qualify for their first monthly payment stipend of N30,000 by August 31, 2018, all deployed volunteers are expected to upload on their N-Power portal page their stamped and signed confirmation of resumption on or before Friday, August 10, 2018.”

Through the N-Power scheme, unemployed Nigerian graduates have been empowered by training and skills acquisition in different areas of public services, including education (N-Teach), health (N-Health), agriculture (N-Agro), and building/construction (N-Build).

Each beneficiary learns entrepreneurial skills to enable them to become business owners and professionals on their own, while beneficiaries are given electronic devices to enhance their work, and paid a monthly stipend of N30,000.