The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nation Builders Corps (NABCO), Dr. Anyars Ibrahim says the NABCO scheme is aimed at providing what he termed “enablers” for interns to pursue careers of their choice.
He indicated that the whole idea of a career is a personal choice which is not dictated centrally by any government.
Dr Ibrahim made the observation during NABCO Skills and Talents Academy Regional Road-show for NABCO beneficiaries in Upper West at Wa.
GBC’s Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo reports that the event was intended at building the capacity of the interns as well as preparing them psychologically to exit the NABCO scheme smoothly after three years.
Dr. Ibrahim commented on the level of investment being made on NABCO interns: “A lot of investment is going into every single NABCO trainee. On a monthly basis, ¢70 million is spent and by the lifespan of NABCO, if you stay for 36 months, we would have spent on average GH₵ 25,500.00, the equivalent of $ 5,000.00 on every single NABCO trainee preparing them for their future careers which is a huge investment into the human resource of this country.”
Dr. Anyars Ibrahim observed that NABCO has for the first time enabled the Upper West Region to retain a huge number of tertiary level graduates who are not running to the south or elsewhere to seek employment thereby contributing to nation building in their local communities.
Dr. Ibrahim advised NABCO interns to uphold the NABCO brand in order to make it attractive to employers.
He told the trainees not to engage in activities or things that can denigrate or create a dent on the brand NABCO has created.
Dr. Ibrahim continued: “If you are a NABCO trainee, and you don’t go to work, you don’t subscribe to the core values of punctuality, creating knowledge and integrity. What are you doing? What you are doing is telling an employer or future employer that when they see NABCO on your CV, they should not take you seriously enough.”
The Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Amidu Chinnia Issahaku observed that the public sector is so limited and governments across the world cannot employ even 20% of the workforce in their countries hence the need to make the private sector the engine of growth to employ the majority of the citizens and commended the move to re-orient NABCO trainees not to be liabilities after training.
“I want to thank the Chief Executive for taking this proactive measure of going round the country and meeting with all NABCO trainees and taking you through their exit plan,” Mr Issahaku stated.
He continued, “I urge all of you to take advantage of this training, so that at the close of the day, and when you are exiting this program, you will find something to do and will not become a liability for the state.”
The Upper West Regional Coordinator of NABCO, Umar Nuhu, challenged the 2,850 interns in the Region to choose career paths that others will not dare to venture into, saying that will enable them to stand out in the job market.
A NABCO beneficiary in Nadowli-Kaleo Distrct, Michael S. Kogo described NABCO as an intervention that has helped him financially, saying he is saving towards his post graduate education from his NABCO allowances.
As part of the training, the interns were taking through “Industry Trends and Current Emphasis on Skills and Work Readiness” by the Co-Founder and CEO of Africa Internship Academy, Emmanuel Leslie Addae.
Story by Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo.
