The Presidential Jobs Board recently set up by President Goodluck Jonathan has said that 16.5 million Nigerians are currently jobless.
Quoting the National Bureau of Statistics, the board, in a document exclusively obtained by our correspondent on Sunday, estimated the country’s unemployment rate at 23.9 per cent.
The board chaired by Vice President Namadi Sambo has the responsibility of identifying most probable sources of generating three million jobs for Nigerians within 12 months as one of its seven terms of reference.
It disclosed that apart from the 16.5 million jobless Nigerians, the country’s workforce grows by approximately two million people yearly out of which almost one million are tertiary institutions graduates.
The board added that to meaningfully address the unemployment situation and bring it down below 10 per cent, Nigeria must create three to four million new jobs every year for the next 10 years.
“This is a major feat which will require a concerted, intense and consistent approach to job creation across multiple MDAs and with strong commitment from the private sector,” it added.
To further address the unemployment challenge, the board stressed the need for the country to pass a law to properly institutionalise its agenda on job creation and employment promotion.
It made a case for the immediate preparation of what it called “Nigerians Jobs Creation and Employment Bill” that will be sent to the National Assembly for passage.
“The Act would consolidate national policy on employment incentives, skills strategies, jobs matching programmes, institutional support for jobs creation, the jobs board, jobs centres, disability employment, military veteran employment and many other issues. Such a bill should be sponsored by the Presidential Jobs Board,” the board added.
It further recommended the conversion of the 74 vocational skills training centres of the National Directorate of Employment into “National Jobs Centres” to serve as one-stop career centres to match employers and jobs seekers. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Stop fooling yourself, Nigeria's unemployment rate is a solid 60%, with higher rates among university graduates, a large number of whom are now okada operators.
ReplyDeleteAnother voodoo statistics, whats our problem with numbers in this country? Until we get numbers right we cannot get anything right. There are too many unemployed youth in this nation including the graduates that are employed to be waving hands to passing vehicle on highways in the name of sure P,we need seriousness mr president.
ReplyDeleteStatistically, if truly 16.5m out of 170m plus Nigerian population are jobless, that will amount to about 85% employed and only 16.5% unemployed taking the working population to be roughly 100m. I am not sure if US and other developed countries record such a figure at the moment. Are we saying Nigeria has a higher percentage of employed population than these Nations? More so, that means for every 4 Nigerians, there must be only 1 unemployed. Is this the true scenario in our societies? This Government is not only full of corruption but also with political propagandizing and economic manipulations. Lets tell the truth that we are suffering amid unending resources and get the technical know-how support from the developed Nations rather than being dicey. stop killing innocent citizens for cheap political points with your propaganda. There is God ooooooo!
ReplyDeleteMDAs can not and should not be the major employer of labor in Nigeria. Let all the moribund companies like textile firms, Steel Rolling Mills, Beverage Companies, etc be made to come back to life and millions will be employed. also, let there be ban on importation of luxury items that have local substitutes to create market and hence trigger demand for more production.
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